A Second Chance
by Starmist
Summary: A new disease is decimating the population and an organization emerges that's even more deadly than Team Rocket. It's all up to our heros to save the world...
1. Prologue: The Beginning

  
Author's note: Ok, I have been working on this story and the next few chapters for quite some time. This story is going to be dark fic w/ some AAML (Sorry, can't help those!). If you don't like these type of story, then why are you still reading this?  
  
Disclamiar: I own pokemon? You would think that why?????????  
  
A Second Chance  
  
Prologue: The Beginning  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Darkness flutters across the room. An eerie mix of evil, death and destruction seems to plague the room as we focus in on a dark figure. Unknown to him, a silky white Persian restlessly paces across the floor. The man stares at a stack of papers in front of him. Silence passes for what could only be described as an eternity. Finally, the man, still hidden in the shadows screams. "The results are terrible this year!" The man booms even startling the wicked cat pokemon. A few seconds elapse before his anger dissolves into nothingness. "But, that's of no concern. Once it is perfected, the time of pure terror will spread across the land and wreck havoc among the people. Peace will be a long forgotten term. When that time comes, the world will be at my mercy."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chirp!  
  
The call of the pidgeys, carried by the wind, echoed across the valley. The sounds of scuffling animals bellowed while the cry of a single Dodrio rained supreme in the ears of the early risers.  
  
The sun cast its heavenly rays indicating to the wildlife nearby to journey away from dreamland and into the land of reality. A crisp, shimmering sky engulfed the view as puffy dots that could barely be recognized as clouds interrupted the rich blue.  
  
The smell of fresh dew circled in the air while the taste of the morning mist crackled relentlessly. The soft green leaves of the numerous plants in the area danced like fairies in the sunlight.  
  
A slight breeze hurled through a small town, directing its course to a small house on the very edge of it. Making its way to an open window, the wind frolicked into the tiny room and gently swished across a sleepy form.  
  
The teenager, no more than 15, stirred in his sleep at the arrival of the silky wind. Groaning softly, he steadily flickered one eye opened and slowly examined his surroundings. He was lying on a comfortable bed encircled by pokemon stuff; everything from pokemon sheets to a Snorlax beanbag. Stretching, he managed to sit up straight and notice a tiny little yellow ball that was curled by his side. Dark stripes lined the yellowish lump while a jagged-looking tail protruded from one end of its circumference.  
  
Sensing the sudden movements from its trainer, the yellow ball lost its shape and stretched itself out. Two pointy ears along with two glossy eyes appeared while a smile that could melt even the evilest hearts gleamed from its lips. After rubbing the sleep from its tired eyes, the cute stuff-animal-looking creature nuzzled closer to its best-friend and chimed in a sing-song voice "(Ash, get up!)"  
  
Ash smiled at his little friend. Although the entire Pikachu language was still a mystery to him, simple phrases and questions were quite understandable in his mind. "All right, Pikachu, I'm up." More to himself than to his pokemon, Ash continued. "What time is it?" Grabbing an alarm clock that happened to be situated conveniently on a nearby table, Ash gasped. "Oh great! It's already 8:45! I should have woken up an hour ago!" With that, Ash raced out of bed and hurriedly threw soon clothes on before racing to his bathroom and sloping toothpaste on his teeth in a haphazard manner.  
  
Pikachu watched in amusement as Ash comically ran like a Rapidash around trying to get ready. After only 50 seconds, Ash galloped back to his bedside and smiled at the silly pokemon. "Come on Pikachu. If you don't want to miss out on my mom's cooking, we better hurry down."  
  
The thought of breakfast by Ash's mom made the electric pokemon shiver in delight. The pair jumped out of the room and in a few seconds flat arrived in the kitchen where a host of people stopped their peaceful activities and glanced at the newcomers. A fairly young woman was standing next to a few pots and pans, smiling as if everything in the world was perfect and wonderful. Her rich dark reddish-brown hair glowed in the light and was easily identifiable as Mrs. Ketchum, Ash's mom. "Did you sleep in late again, dear?" She asked in that charming voice of hers.  
  
Why she even bothered asking such a question was beyond Ash and everyone else in the room. His sloppy black hair flew in all directions while his tired eyes blinked uncontrollably. Along with his ragged appearance and constant yawning, it was as clear as day that Ash had slept in late once again. However, for the sake of his mom, Ash nodded his head and gave a crooked smile.  
  
"And why am I not surprised?" A fiery young girl barely a year older than him groaned. Her orange hair was twisted into her usual lopsided ponytail while her cerulean blue eyes taunted the poor boy with their intensity.  
  
"Are you trying to imply something, Misty?" Ash snapped back in reply. He certainly wasn't going to be pushed around by a girl, regardless of her age, behavior and perhaps even beauty?  
  
Misty shrugged her shoulders and gazed at Ash innocently. "Who me? No, its not like I'm trying to insult your lazy behavior, arrogant attitude not to mention your stupidity or your…"  
  
"That's enough!" Another person quickly interrupted Misty's list of faults. He was slightly older than the two bickering teens, around 19 actually. His spiky dark brown hair pointed straight to the ceiling while his harden face reflected signs of wisdom. The only uncharacteristic thing about him at the present moment was a light pink frilly apron that covered his usual set of clothes. It was clear that he had also been cooking until this sudden argument arose. With a spatula in hand, he continued his lecture. "You two bicker more than an old married couple! Now stop acting like children and eat your pancakes!" The older boy shoved another pancake onto Misty's plate and slammed another one on an empty plate and slapped it on the table.  
  
Ash and Misty took the clue that their older friend, Brock, was clearing giving. Misty silently nibbled on her pancake while Ash seated himself and started chewing on his food as well. A quick glaring contest erupted between the two but ended when Pikachu scampered onto the table. Ash completely forgot his anger and even Misty altogether when he saw the small rodent. Smiling, he scratched Pikachu behind the ear, softening his features considerably. "Hey, how are you doing little buddy?" Pikachu sighed in glee while Ash turned to Brock. "I'm sorry Brock."  
  
"That's ok, Mr. Pokemon Master." Brock smiled.   
  
Confusion swept over Ash's face for a moment. At first, he thought that Brock was teasing him, as Misty has done over the 5 years that he has known her. However, his memory helped him out by reminding him that he was in fact a Pokemon Master as of a few days ago. His dream was finally accomplished after an endless 5 years of failure, regret and misery. For once, happiness swept his way along with good luck. "Don't rub it in, Brock. So, what do you guys want to do today?"  
  
With her annoying perfect smile, Mrs. Ketchum replied. "Well, why don't we visit the pokemon museum?"  
  
Ash almost jumped in joy at the idea, but somehow managed to stop himself in the process and eagerly replied. "That's a great idea, mom." Turning to his friends, Ash explained. "We used to visit it almost every week when I was a kid. It's really cool, I know that you'll love it, Brock and Misty." Ash purposefully emphasized Misty's name, reasons that were slightly unclear to even himself. For a moment, his mind tried to sort out the reasons. Hate? No, too strong. Dislike? May be, but that just doesn't seem right. Fondness? Strange, it fits more likely than dislike, but that's impossible. A strong friendship? Although I'd never admit it, it just doesn't work quite right. Or, could it possibly be something else that I dread even more? Could it be lo…  
  
"For once I have to agree with Ash." Misty turned to him and noticed a thoughtful expression on his face. "Ash, are you ok?" She inquired.  
  
Ash immediately snapped out of his trance and noticed, with embarrassment, that he was staring at Misty for a while. His humiliation increased when he noticed 4 pairs of eyes staring at him intently. Taking a deep sigh, he tried to pretend nothing happened. "What, me? Never felt better!" The others continued to gaze at him a while longer. Ash wasn't a very good actor.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jeff sighed as he stared down at his hands wrapped in dark gloves. The day had been quite boring so far. Happy sunshine and beautiful weather rained down on him with little effect. In fact, they only seemed to bother him more. Black, tight clothes gripped his sides. A small, handy radio stayed glued to his left hand while a wicked pistol was clenched in his right. His jet-black hair and creamy smooth skin rested peacefully along his face. However, his face was anything but peaceful. Eyes as black as night glared straight ahead while his face stiffened into a frown. His point of interest was less than 40 feet away. A simple house with a small garden in the front relaxed without a care in the world.  
  
"Agent! Please report condition of the mission!" A scratchy voice echoed from the radio.   
  
Annoyed at this new disturbance, Jeff glanced back at the radio. "This is Agent Jeff Wilson reporting. The mission's condition is as follows. I'm outside the Ketchum residence within shooting range of targets. Waiting for targets to appear at the present moment while I'm concealed in some bushes nearby. So far, there are no complications in the mission. Everything is going according to plan."  
  
A few anxious moments passed before the voice responded. "Excellent. Continue with the mission as planned. Shoot the first targets that come out of the house. Try to execute Ash Ketchum if possible. If main target is not in range or isn't shot as planned, run back to headquarters ASAP. Deposit gun nearby scene. Leave no other evidence. Good luck Agent Wilson."  
  
A crude smile appeared on Jeff's lips for a second before it disappeared. He didn't need luck; he never did. Luck was something that only stupid people needed when they weren't skilled enough. However, being the best sharpshooter known, Jeff was far beyond skilled; he was an expert. He never misses his target.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"That was one of the best meals that I've ever had! Mom, Brock, you two outdid yourselves this time!" Ash leaned back and smiled happily. Pikachu, copying Ash, did likewise with some ketchup was slopped all over his lips. Ash, noticing his favorite pokemon, laughed. "Pikachu, I still don't know how you can eat ketchup with pancakes!"  
  
Pikachu smiled. He started licking his lips in order to taste more of this wonderful substance. Misty grinned. "Gosh, Pikachu! You sure like ketchup!"  
  
Pikachu nodded. "(Yea, I guess I do. You really ought to put some ketchup on your pancakes! It tastes great!)" Noticing the blank expressions from the other humans, including his trainer, Pikachu sighed. Humans can be quite dumb when it comes to pokemon language. So, to help out his friends, Pikachu copied Ash's favorite pose: the peace sign.  
  
Brock giggled. "You are starting to act more like Ash everyday, Pikachu!" He then turned back to the others. "Shall we visit this pokemon museum then?"  
  
"All right! Let's go!" Misty cried happily and jumped into the air.  
  
Brock laughed once again. "Actually, I was wrong. Misty is starting to act just like Ash! May be you are hanging around him a little too much, hey Misty!"  
  
Misty growled angrily and pulled out her infamous mallet. Where she got it remains a mystery. However, this was hardly on Brock's mind as he was slammed with the mallet and toppled, face-first, into the ground. Ash sweatdropped at this and shyly spoke. "I act like that?"  
  
Misty smiled devilishly. Imitating Ash's voice perfectly, she yelled. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon Master of all time!"  
  
Brock snickered even from his awkward position. "Need I say more?"  
  
Misty hit Brock once again with her mighty mallet. Ash shook his head and decided to ignore everything Brock had just said in the last 5 seconds. "Actually, you're wrong Misty. I am the greatest Pokemon Master of all time!"  
  
Misty rolled her eyes. "Oh please!"  
  
Mrs. Ketchum only now decided to interrupt the comical scene. "Ok, the dishes are all washed. Shall we visit the museum?"  
  
Just to tick Misty off, Ash acted almost gentlemanly by calmly saying. "I think that is an excellent idea, mother." Misty groaned in the background as Ash started to walk towards the door. When he had his hand on the knob, Ash exclaimed. "Oh shoot! My hat! I'll run upstairs and get it and I'll meet you guys outside." Before anyone had a chance to object or even comment for that matter, Ash raced to his room with Pikachu on his heel.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Slightly out of breath, Ash jumped into his room. His eyes darted back and forth for a moment until he found the object of his desires. Resting on the windowsill, a red and white cap absorbed our young hero's attention. It's simple design, white on the top, red just below it and a symbol pasted on it that resembled an "L", suited him nicely. Just below it, Ash spotted his green backpack and picked it up. Cap in hand and backpack resting on his shoulders, Ash was about to gallop outside when something caught his eye. A man appeared to be crouched in the bushes as if ready for ambush. Ash turned around to face Pikachu, motioning him over to his side. "Pikachu, check this out. There's a guy in the bushes."  
  
With its interest peeked, Pikachu quickly sprinted to Ash's shoulders in order to get a glance at the figure. He seemed to be a little older than Brock with tight black clothes. Because of the fact that the sun shone brightly on him and that Ash had an overhead view of the man, he was as easy to spot as an Onix in the middle of a group of Jigglypuff. "(Ash! He's from Team Rocket!)" Pikachu cried, noticing a giant "R" on his shirt dipped in a color that resembled blood.  
  
"Hey, that guy's from Team Rocket!" Ash gasped. Pikachu could barely contain the urge to face-fault at Ash's stupidity. However, Ash almost screamed in terror as he noticed what was in the man's right hand. "And he has a gun!" Unfortunately, this observation came a little too late as Ash and Pikachu watched in sheer horror as the agent lifted his pistol and aimed it towards the front door.  
  
Bang! Bang! Bang!  
  
Three shots rang out before Ash could even breathe. His face went absolutely white with something even deeper than fear: shock. His muscles were paralyzed for the few brief moments when he could have done something; when he could have saved the people that he cared the most for in the world. The thought hit him like a sword rammed into his head. He never even noticed the man running away from the bushes as fast as the wind.  
  
Gun. Shot. Death.  
  
These strange words swirled round and round in his head similar to the way the tires of a car spin at 90 miles per hour. What was only mere seconds appeared to be hours in his warped mind. Somehow, his senses were able to detect Pikachu near the door. Like a zombie, Ash followed his smart and just as terrified pokemon out the door, down the stairs and into the front yard.  
  
Here lay a sight that not a 15-year-old boy or any human should ever see. Blood started to seep out of the people he cared for the most, death catching them with surprised and eerie expressions painted on their faces.   
  
With a horrid pain shooting through his spine, Ash dumbly examined the scene. His eyes rested on his mother first. The dear woman that he had known for 15 years lay sprawled on the ground, her flowing red hair mingling with the color of her own blood that spewed relentlessly from a bullet wound at the top of her head. She never had a chance.  
  
Not caring about the gory sight or even the reddish liquid that soaked the area, Ash worriedly approached his mother and sat down beside her. For some reason, he pulled her into a sitting position and leaned her against himself. His clothes started to change color right before his eyes but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.  
  
A soft drizzle of tears hit the dirt. Ash lifted his head, tears blurring his vision and looked over at his two friends. Somehow, he managed to crawl closer to them, leaving his dead mother on the ground. His eyes first turned to Brock. He cringed at the look on Brock's face; an expression of utter fear was sketched on it. A continual gush of reddish goo swept from his chest. His friend… his best friend appeared dead to the world: literally. Sobs erupted from Ash's throat as he remembered the times he shared with his wise friend. Brock wasn't just a friend; he was an older brother in Ash's eyes.  
  
Finally, the third and last victim lay the furthest from him. The person who taunted, teased and mocked him ever since he started his pokemon journey was now bleeding like there was no tomorrow. Her simple lopsided ponytail was flipped neatly at the top of her head. Memories lashed out at him when he looked at the girl's face. A misplaced strand of hair swept across her face. Ash moved a little closer to her lifeless body and moved it. In this close proximity, Ash simply examined her, noting her features and things that he had failed to notice about her before. Ash sighed, wishing that he could have known this tomboy a little longer. He shook his head and moaned miserably. It just wasn't fair.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Officer Jenny busily typed something into her computer. Frustration and anger filled that normally happy and serene face. The day had been exceedingly long and boring. Although she had only been working for a few hours, they felt like days to her. How she wanted to roam the street in search for criminals! If only she could, but today just had to empty of crime, it had to be the day where boring work needed to be filed on a stupid computer.  
  
Her hand radio starting shaking as a loud and panicky voice sounded on the other line. "This is an emergency! All officers please respond!" A silent pause sounded as Officer Jenny eagerly gripped the little instrument. "Reports of shots fired at the Ketchum residence. Possible civilians down. Code red! All officers in the area please respond! I repeat, shots fired and possible victims at the Ketchum residence!"  
  
Officer Jenny jumped in surprise and started to race to her motorcycle. May be this wasn't going to be such a boring day, after all.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A tiny tear hit the dirt next to the yellow pokemon. He glanced around in horror at the scene that presented itself to him. People that he had been chatting with only moments beforehand now lay motionless atop the hard cement path. Pain like he had never known before overwhelmed him when he saw the expression on Misty, Brock and Mrs. Ketchum's faces.   
  
However, this pain was nothing compared to the pain that covered Ash's face. Pikachu shivered in anxiety at the sight; never had he seen anything look so distressed before. Words couldn't even dare to describe the sorrow, shock, pain and grievance on his trainer's face. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Ash was dead himself.  
  
As if watching a movie, Pikachu observed Ash holding his deceased mother in his arms. Sorrow gripped his feet as Pikachu continued to watch Ash, wishing that this would be a dream. But, he knew that it wasn't.  
  
Pikachu's solemn expression changed to surprise when he saw Ash crawl over to Brock and Misty. His friends… his best friends. The ones who guided him through hard times and who always stayed by his side. This proves just how cruel fate can be.  
  
However, Pikachu's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sirens, police sirens. Waking out of his spell that momentarily gripped him, Pikachu scampered over to Ash and tried to get him to stop gawking at the unfortunate murdered victims. The last thing that they wanted was for the police to accuse Ash of murder and get sentenced to jail. Oh, when did life get so complicated?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Misty… why did it have to be Misty? Ash's thought continued to haunt him like a Ghastly. Feelings surfaced that he never knew he had before, feelings that could only be described as agonizingly painful. Any other time he would have been able to tolerate these overwhelming emotions, but not today, not today.  
  
His ears barely detected something in the distance that sounded familiar, however, he was so distraught, that he couldn't even distingue what these familiar sounds were. Although his eyes were now fastened shut, in order to avoid the pain of seeing his beloved ones in such a state, Ash could still sense that Pikachu had crawled next to him and was trying to tell him something. But, in his mind, it was all gibberish.  
  
Those strangely familiar sounds started getting louder and louder. His slow brain was barely able to realize that it was a police car, but by then it was too late.   
  
A small, compact motorcycle pulled up to the scene. A small gasp of horror escaped the rider's lips, before she shivered at the gruesome sight. As she took in the horrible details of the crime site, Officer Jenny noticed something peculiar. A young boy and a Pikachu appeared to be in the center of the bloodshed. They both seemed alive, although the boy was motionless. Being a rookie cop and not realizing the unstable condition of the one and only survivor at the scene, Officer Jenny harshly called. "Kid, answer some questions at the police station with me."  
  
Although most people would treat this extreme rudeness by rolling their eyes or glaring, Ash never even moved a muscle. Pikachu busily tried to get his attention but nothing seemed to work. As far as he was concerned, Ash really was dead to the world.  
  
Officer Jenny stared in surprise. Never had she been treated like this before. True, she had never interviewed a murder suspect or at least a victim in a murder before, but she figured that everyone would treat her the same. However this was just insulting. Officer Jenny rudely yelled. "Kid! Get away from those people right now! There is an ambulance coming in a few minutes but you need to come with me for questioning!"  
  
Yet Ash continued to sit in that position. Officer Jenny was about to slap him in anger when she heard something. She moved in closer and heard him sobbing. Turning so that she could face him, Officer Jenny saw tears streaming down his cheek. Pity replaced the anger in her heart as she spoke in a softer and gentler tone. "I'm sorry, kid. Here, why don't you get out of this mess and change out of those clothes? I'll take you down to headquarters and everything will be fine, ok?"  
  
Unfortunately, Ash still didn't move. It was like she was talking to a brick wall. Pikachu sighed at the sad scene, knowing all too well that Ash would never really be the same again. Officer Jenny groaned in frustration and starting thinking. This was the Ketchum residence and only two people lived here: a woman and her teenage son. Although she had never met them before, Jenny remembered people talking about them, especially the son. Now what was his name again? Anthony? Andrew? It began with an "A"… why was she thinking of wood now? A…sh… Ash! That's it! "Ash Ketchum, right?"   
  
At the sound of his own name, Ash finally lifted his head. Officer Jenny almost gasped in surprise. His face was completely devoid of color; it was pure white. His jet-black hair was sloppy and clearly uncombed. It is often said that eyes are the windows to the soul. Well, his eyes, that burned red with the constant flow of tears that trickled down his face, visibly showed the torture that he was enduring at the present moment. Regaining her senses, Officer Jenny reached out a friendly hand in order to help Ash to his feet. Like a robot, he accepted her help and painfully shifted his weight to his legs.  
  
"Now, we'll get you cleaned up and you'll spend some time at the police station." Officer Jenny coolly spoke.  
  
She observed, with surprise that Ash jumped away from her clasp. "You mean you're taking me to jail." His hoarse voice sounded like it hadn't spoken in decades.  
  
"Well, just for a few days or so until we get things straightened out." Officer Jenny, not realizing her obvious mistake starting moving back to her motorcycle. The paramedics could already be heard racing down the street.  
  
Primitive instincts swallowed Ash in fear. Jail was not a place that he wanted to go to. "You think I killed them, don't you! You actually think that I murdered my best friends and my mother! In case you didn't know, I care about them! It should be me here in a pool of blood! Not mom, not Brock and certainly not Misty." He hesitated as he stared at the three lifeless bodies. He then turned back to Officer Jenny, hate gleaming in his eyes. "How dare such a thought cross your mind! I'm not setting a foot into the police station if it means spending the rest of my life in the slammer!" At this point, he was screaming in rage and fear at the top of his lungs. Pikachu nervously scampered to his feet, hoping to calm him down.  
  
In this case, Officer Jenny's apparent stupidity sprang into action. Her tiny brain couldn't even realize that this boy was scared and frightened, with the loss of the closest people in his life. Her frustration returned and she decided that ordering this kid to headquarters was the only way to go. "You are coming with me to the police station right now!" Boy, was she wrong.  
  
By now the ambulance was literally upon the scene. Barely two blocks away, the paramedics' sirens blasted deafeningly. Time ticked in slow motion for Ash as he decided what to do. Part of him told him to race into the forest where it was safe while another part said to stay calm and wait for the ambulance. But, the loud shrieking noise from the ambulance threw his thoughts into confusion and his mind continued to focus on one point: he probably go to jail for this. Horrid stories about people dying in jail cells scared him straight. He knew what he would have to do.  
  
Pikachu watched in horror as Ash galloped away from the area. Being the loyal pokemon that he was, Pikachu followed him. Pikachu had seen Ash run before; in fact, he considered Ash pretty slow, at least that was in pokemon terms. But, now, fueled with adrenaline, Ash ran faster than the eye could see. Even Pikachu, considered by many to be one of the fastest pokemon with its agility attack, had trouble keeping up with him.  
  
Blinding red lights flashed into view and Officer Jenny was sightless for a few moments. On a sudden hunch, she turned back to Ash, only to realize that he had disappeared. Her sharp eyes managed to catch the fleeting glimpse of a yellow streak, which she easily identified as the Pikachu hanging around him just seconds ago. Before she could even think about following them, she knew that they were long gone.  
  
A few men, dressed in pure white, rushed to the scene and carried three stretchers. They loaded the three motionless bodies into the car and zoomed down to the hospital.   
  
Officer Jenny, however, was still thinking about the loss of her one and only witness. Her boss was going to kill her for sure. She quickly glanced at the bodies that were being taken away. If she had only examined them closer, she would have realized that two of them were still breathing…  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Run. Must keep running.  
  
Panting heavily, Ash ran at lighting speed jumping over hurdle after hurdle. His body was incredibly sore and he could barely breath but he still kept running. Even when he had reached his destination, the forest, he continued sprinting. He just had to get away from it all, from the pain, from the memories, from himself…  
  
God only knows how long Ash could have kept this pointless activity up if his foot hadn't met the upturned root of a tree.  
  
Crash!  
  
He fell face-first into the ground, letting cool oxygen fill his tired lungs. Everything was in a blur and nothing made sense. Pikachu decided to make its appearance, now, as it jumped happily into Ash's lap. For a moment, everything was forgotten as the two hugged each other, pleased that they found one another. But, that moment passed all too soon for Ash and Pikachu and the tears started to hit the ground.  
  
For the sake of his pokemon, Ash continued blindly into the woods, not knowing where he was going, as if that mattered to him. Good luck managed to find the pair as they heard a rushing stream nearby. Ash jogged over to a beautiful spot overlooking a quaint river. A lovely waterfall guzzled nearby that curved into a tranquil little lake, fed by dozens of small streams.   
  
Ash sighed and pulled off his jacket. Dried blood covered the thin jacket. Ash cringed at the sight remembering where it came from. He stuffed it into his small, green backpack and examined his blue jeans and dark black shirt. Fortunately, none of the reddish goo touched them. Ash looked around the area and noticed Pikachu soaking in the tiny lake. At least Pikachu wasn't doing that badly.  
  
Ash, on the other hand, was a different story. Only a few hours ago, childhood innocence swept across his merry face. Then, he believed that good luck could get him through any situation. He thought that nothing would change; everything would stay simple and fun. He couldn't have been more wrong.  
  
With a single event, his childhood innocence, dreams, beliefs and hopes perished in the blink of an eye. Ash now realized the difficulties of the adult world, of the pain faced, of the hardships along life's bumpy path. The world now seemed to take on a darker appearance. Even the clouds in the sky weren't the same anymore. They were different, almost sinister. In fact, almost everything appeared that way now: wicked. Even at this point, Ash knew that things would never be the same again.  
  



	2. Chapter 1: The Reunion

A/N: Ok, here's the next part of my story. In case you didn't read my prologue (shame on you! It was a good prologue too!), I'll give you a quick summary, but I'm only going to do this once: Ash is 15, Misty is 16 and Brock is 19 in the prologue. They are in Pallet town, actually Ash's house, where Ash has become a pokemon master (finally!). They were all going to go out when Ash forgot his hat and ran upstairs. Outside, a Rocket guy was waiting in ambush and shot Misty, Brock and Mrs. Ketchum when they walked outside. Ash is really sad and stuff that this happened and Officer Jenny walks into the scene. Ash then runs off in the woods… and that about covers it. However, please read the prologue, cuz it's really good and I suck at summaries! I sure hope you enjoy this chapter (it took FOREVER to do). Oh, and please write reviews! Thanks.

A Second Chance

Chapter 1: The Reunion

*~*~*~*~*~*

# Six years later…

A room… blackness. That's all I can see at the moment. It appears that I'm located in a room. Yes, there are four walls, definitely a room. However, the color black masks any other object in the room… if there is any other object in the room. Wait… there is. A chair… a table… a weird-looking sphere on the tale… and a capsule? What is going on here? Soft lights… how did they appear so suddenly? The capsule… something is wrong with it. Wait a sec! It's _moving! IT'S MOVING! An outline… a figure… a creature? What is a creature doing inside of a capsule? Is it human? No, perhaps a pokemon? If so, it's a new species. Maybe I should just leave… the thing… it's coming out of the capsule! What's going on here? I've got to get out of here! Where's a door? A door? Help! It's coming! It's coming! HELPPPPPPP!!!!!!_

"Insignificant being." A voice echoed from the darkness. Still hiding within the shadows, it's clear that the owner of the wicked voice is towering over a dead man drenched in blood. "These human fools think that they can recapture me." Floating away from the gory scene, the figure becomes clearer. A head, a body and a tail… definitely a pokemon. Pink and purple engulf the creature as it stands upright like a human. Cat-like, to say the least, a wicked aura surrounds this creature and yet, it seems wise… like it knows something that no one else knows. Like it is playing a game, in which it refuses to part with some unknown secret. 

The pokemon glides over to a table, still engulfed in the darkness. Its eyes flash a silvery blue; a sign that it is using a psychic move. Blinding light enters the room and the small sphere on the table starts to glow. The pokemon sits in a nearby chair and examines the object more closely as its eyes return to its normal black color. Now, the sphere changes, showing a dark scene; a shady room dotted with the glow of dozens of candles. In the middle of the room, a young adult appears to be training. He holds a sinister sword in one hand and lashes it against the air, like he's battling an unseen force. In the distance, a yellowish creature rests in the corner as it crackles with electricity.

The pokemon smiles devilishly. "It's time young Ash. It's time."

*~*~*~*~*~*

# Later that night…

There it is… the Pokemon Center.

He stands curiously still, examining the building. This is a place for sick pokemon, the place where they are healed and taken care of; the place where they are brought back from the brink of death. This is a hospital for pokemon, not a place to deliver papers that could change the fate of mankind and pokemon alike.

"AK, what are you doing here?" A young boy asks, running over to his side. AK quickly hides the contents, previously held in his hands, and stuffs them into a hidden jacket pocket.

"What do you want? You're not supposed to be out here. It's dangerous." AK glared at the boy who had a "R" on his shirt. He was clearly part of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the planet, yet he was walking down the street without a care in the world.

"I suppose that I should ask the same of you." The boy watched his older peer. Unlike the boy, AK didn't have a "R" on his shirt. Instead, he was draped in black. Black shirt, black jeans and a even black jacket… he blended in perfectly with the dark background. "You're not wearing your wristband."

AK simply nodded. He hated wearing the elite band, the wristband showing that he was one of the elite Team Rocket members. It was like a siren to everyone that he was a criminal. He really hated that band. "I'm meeting someone, undercover."

"At a Pokemon Center?" the boy asked. He couldn't believe that someone was actually disobeying the boss' orders by not wearing either a Team Rocket shirt or a wristband, depending on what rank you were. "You should wear it at all times."

AK shook his head. The young recruits… they were always so innocent. He remembered when he was also a young recruit. One thing was for sure, at that age, he never thought that he would be here… never. "Look, success depends on surprise. The fact that this person doesn't know who I am is essential. Keep quiet about this. If the word leaks to the other members, things could get tricky. Now, go!"

The young boy gave him a queer look before hurrying away from the area. AK sighed. He really did hate lying and he had been doing it so much lately. However, the fate of the planet lies in his hands and a few lies here and there won't count that much in the long run.

He quickly smoothed back his hair and tried to look as normal as possible. He walked into the center and was greeted by Nurse Joy. She, like all of her identical sisters and cousins, smiled without a care in the world. "Can I help you?"

AK shook his head. "Just need to deliver something."

"Oh, then go down the hall and make a turn on your first right." Nurse Joy grinned and pointed down a long hallway.

"Thanks." With that, AK raced into the area and saw the machines. There were about 5 transporting machines; all were empty.

"(Hey, let me out! I can't breathe in here!)" A muffled voice echoed from his jacket. He sighed and pulled out a very unhappy pokemon.

"Sorry, about that Pikachu, but if anyone saw you, they would know that it was me. That's the last thing we want." AK grinned and petted Pikachu. Pikachu smiled in content, its anger already vanished. Glancing back at the machines, AK sighed. "Now, back to business."

He approached the nearest machine and turned it on. It boomed with life and lighted the room with its glow. AK placed some papers on a platform. Above it, a silver rod, with a pointed tip, awaited the moment when it would be needed. He then walked over to the main section of the machine; it was a screen with a jumble of buttons that was situated right below it. AK pressed a few of these buttons and a mechanical voice spoke. "Please type in the name of the city for transportation and building/residence." AK did so and the machine paused for a few moments, analyzing the new information. "Location found. Oak Laboratories in Pallet town. Please press 'Y' if correct and 'N' if not correct." AK pushed the "Y" button and waited a few more moments. "Sending." AK turned around and saw the metal rod glow in a white light, engulfing the papers on the platform. When the light disappeared, the papers did so accordingly as the voice once again spoke. "Transportation complete."

AK sighed and shut down the machine. Pikachu watched the whole process from his shoulders in curiosity. "(Why did you alert Oak of our situation?)"

AK smiled and turned back to his pokemon. "Hopefully, for help in saving the world."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Professor Oak rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. He could never get used to waking up at 6:00 in the morning and driving over to Oak Laboratories. It was just too exhausting. His brittle bones couldn't take the strain every single day. He was just getting too old for this.

"Hi, Grandpa." A young man in his early 20's turned to Prof. Oak. Prof. Oak smiled at Gary, remembering what an arrogant brat he was six years ago, that was before the shootings. At least one good thing came out of that horrid event. Gary even decided to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and become a scientist.

"Hello Gary. Anything new?" Professor Oak walked into the building and sat down in his favorite chair.

Gary nodded. "Actually yes. Some papers were teleported to the lab around 2:00 am."

"2:00 am? Who would send me something at that hour?" Prof. Oak asked.

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "You got me. All I know is that it was from Viridian City." Gary then shoved some papers in his lap. "Here they are. I'm going to the 3rd floor to continue our experiment on that strange group of Butterfree we found last week."

"Ok, Gary, I'll meet you there in a few minutes." Prof. Oak mumbled as Gary left the room. He picked up the papers in his lap and started reading them. His eyes darted back and forth across the first page of the document. He soon stopped, fear radiating from his face. He never thought that this day would come… he never thought that it would happen…ever. He never thought that he would see Armageddon in his lifetime.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Dewgong, ice beam attack!" A giant seal pokemon jumped from its peaceful slumber at its trainer's command. The pure white pokemon raised its head back in preparation of the attack. An icy blue ball of sheer energy formed inside its mouth. With one heavy pant, Dewgong released the energy ball. A sizzle of cold petrified the air as the water changed its form to ice at the touch of the frosty ball of power known as an ice beam. 

A girl, obviously it's trainer, smiled. "Dewgong, return." She held out a red and white pokeball, while the slippery pokemon changed into red light and floated back to its home. Touching a certain button, the ball shrank in size and fit comfortably on her belt. Her delicate fingers slipped to another tiny pokeball and pulled it off of her belt. After enlarging it, she threw it down into some nearby water that wasn't affected by the ice beam. "Go Seaking!"

A colorful fish materialized. Blotches of small black dots interrupted the cool white that covered its fins. Its main body glowed a deep red. Two large eyes gazed at its trainer, awaiting her every command while a deadly horn bellowed from the top of its head. "Seaking, horn drill that ice." She pointed to the nearby ice patch that was frozen earlier. The bloated fish nodded and raced towards the ice. Its horn twirled like a drill as it lowered its head for the upcoming attack. Mounds of ice flew into the sky as the deadly horn met its match.

The young trainer produced a glass cup, filled with liquid, and held it into the air. Ice rained into the cup and splashed all over the beach that she was standing on. The beautiful woman examined the cup and smiled. She pulled Seaking's pokeball out and shouted. "Return, Seaking." The pokemon did so and disappeared. She shrunk the ball and replaced it back on her belt. "Ah, the things I do for ice-cold lemonade." She sipped the glass, now cold with the blocks of ice swimming in it.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!

The enchanting trainer groaned at this new disturbance. She left her spot on the scenic beach and hurried inland. Brushing against palm tree after palm tree, she raced through the vegetation until she reached her destination. A small, crudely built beach house rested peacefully a few yards away.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!

"I'm coming!" the woman shouted to no one in particular as she climbed up the steps. After brushing off the sand particles that covered her feet, she dashed into the house, still holding her precious glass of cold lemonade. The place was relatively empty; there was a small kitchen, a couch and a videophone, her only source of communication with the outside world.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone ca…

"Hello?" she quickly picked up the phone. After a few brief moments, the screen changed showing an old man. His white hair and wrinkled skin made him appear at least 65. Noticing his white lab coat, the young woman gasped in confusion. Why would a scientist call her?

"Misty, long time no see. It's Professor Oak." Misty peered a little closer at the man. Sparks of recognition gleamed in her eyes when she noticed his familiar face. Her glass of lemonade slid out of her hand and shattered on the floor, but Misty didn't even notice. She just continued to stare at the man. Through all those years, his eyes still held that curious gaze that she remembered so long ago.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Misty was still confused by the strange phone call. Of all people, the last person that she would have expected to call her was Professor Oak.

Professor Oak nodded. "I'm afraid there is my dear. Come to my lab in Pallet, immediately, and bring a few changes of clothes and other things like that. We have a serious problem on our hands."

Misty raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "What type of problem? And what's with the rush?"

"I can't answer that on the phone. Come quickly and don't tell a soul about this." The screen went blank leaving a shocked Misty on the other line. She had never seen Prof. Oak so anxious before. True, she hadn't seen him in a while, but there was something unnerving in his voice. What was going on?

Misty hurried to another room, careful to avoid the broken glass, and quickly stuffed her few belongings inside of a small bag. She then quickly sprinted outside to the beach she had been only moments beforehand. "Go Dewgong!" She cried and released the giant creature.

The pokemon stared at her in confusion. Even it could tell that something wasn't right. "Dewgong, we have an emergency on our hands." She then climbed on the pokemon's back. "Full speed ahead to Pallet town!" The aquatic creature dived into the water, careful not to drown its trainer, and started swimming towards an unknown adventure.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Dewgong, return!" The faithful pokemon scuttled back to its pokeball. After setting it back on her belt, Misty started walking. She had barely been moving for 5 minutes before she reached her destination. Misty looked around the area. Pallet town… the little place hadn't changed a bit. With all the changes that have taken place within the last few years, it's nice to know that some things always stay the same.

Misty walked into town and scanned the area. Now, where was the Oak laboratory? It had to be around here somewhere. Maybe she should ask someone. Strange… the streets were deserted; not a soul could be seen, even though it was close to noon.

Luck! A tall man walked onto the street. Misty darted over to him. "Excuse me, but you wouldn't know where the Oak laboratories are, would you?" The man gave her a strange look. He was clearly older and taller than she was. He was quite muscular and looked very familiar with dark spiky hair and squinty eyes. Misty started feeling awkward under his constant stare. "Um, why are you staring me?"

The man shook his head. "Sorry about that, it's just that you look exactly like a girl I used to know. Actually, I'm also going to the Oak lab myself. Why don't we walk there together?"

Misty never was the type to walk off with total strangers, but this person seemed so familiar, like she had known him for years. "Sure. So, why are you visiting the lab?"

"Well, it was all very weird. I was running my gym back home when I got this weird phone call from Prof. Oak. He asked me to come here as soon as possible and that he'd explain everything when I got there." The man started walking and motioned for Misty to follow.

"That's really weird. I got a similar call from him." Misty sighed and hurried to catch up to him.

The man slowed down and spoke. "Yes, I wonder what he wants with us."

Misty nodded. "Same here." After a moment's pause, Misty exclaimed. "Oh, by the way, I'm Misty."

The man stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her once again. The eyes, the hair, the smile… there was no mistaking it. She may have grown from a scrawny tomboy into a stunning model, but it was Misty all right. "Misty… MISTY! Oh my God! I can't believe it's you! I can't believe it!"

The man gave her a big friendly bear hug while Misty squirmed under his grasp. "What are you doing? Do I have to use my mallet on you?"

The man immediately let her go, remembering the painful experience of getting hit by her mallet. "Misty! It's me, Brock!"

"Brock? W… what?" Misty gasped and smiled. "I can't believe it! I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been?"

Brock grinned at her. "I've been great. Look, after we talk to Prof. Oak, you have to tell me how you have been doing these last 5 years."

"6 years." Misty corrected him. She then noticed that during their conversation, they managed to wander to Oak lab. Changing her tone ever so slightly, Misty asked. "Brock, why do you think that Prof. Oak called us here in the first place?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders. "Wish I knew, but I have a feeling that it isn't good news."

Misty sighed. "I'm starting to get that feeling too."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good, you two made it." Prof. Oak smiled as Misty and Brock approached the building. "Follow me, the others have already arrived."

Slightly startled by the word "others" the two followed him into the building and down a long corridor. After a few moments, they entered a room lined with a few couches, a table and even a TV.

Three people were seated in the room. One was a young boy with glossy blond hair. He had large blue eyes and a childish look on his face. The boy was probably around 21, a year younger than Misty and 4 years younger than Brock, yet he barely looked 18. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and black dress shoes. It was clear that he had been somewhere formal when he was called by Oak.

The interest of this blond child was a female sitting in the corner trying to get the TV to work. The girl was stunningly beautiful with pitch-black hair flowing down her back and dark silky brown eyes. She looked incredibly mature for her age of around 22, most would estimate that she was at least over 30. She wore a very short mini skirt that was barely long enough to suit her. Her shirt was kind of tacky, a dark blue shirt covered with little hot pink stars. Globs of make-up covered her face including deep plum purple eye shadow, and rosy pink lipstick. Basically, she was the typical valley girl that cared for dresses and make-up more than anything else in the world.

The last person was a dressed in a lab coat similar to that of Prof. Oak. His wild and spiky brown hair shifted in all directions, unlike Brock's which was neatly pointed to the sky. He had dark sleek eyes that held a stubborn air to them. He appeared to have been in the room the longest for he was starting to drift off to sleep.

"Misty, Brock, I'd like for you to meet Joe and Giselle." Prof. Oak pointed to the blond-haired boy and the valley girl, accordingly. "And, I believe that you already know Gary."

"Gary?" the two yelled in sync. They couldn't believe the change. How could the arrogant teenager of yesterday turn into a highly well respected scientist of tomorrow?

"Brock! Misty! Long time no see!" Gary grinned. "I remember the days when I used to tease you all when you hung out with Ash."

Everyone respectfully stopped their activities and became silent. It seemed that whenever the name "Ash" was mentioned to anyone that knew him or his mother, there was a period of sad silence that followed. After all these years, it was still hard to forget what happened.

"Yes, those were the days." Brock whispered.

Misty nodded. "Indeed."

Even Joe and Giselle became quiet. They had met Ash only once but he taught them a very valuable lesson about pokemon and about themselves. Finally, Prof. Oak broke the mood by saying. "Misty, Brock, take a seat and I'll explain to everyone why they're here."

Misty and Brock did so accordingly, and glanced back at the Professor. "So, what was so important that couldn't be said over the phone?" Misty asked.

"Yesterday, late last night, some papers were teleported into the Oak lab." He soon produced the small pile of papers from his coat pocket. "Here they are. Gary actually showed them to me this morning. It was because of the information presented inside these documents that I called all of you here."

"What's _so important about those papers?" Giselle asked, busily filing her nails._

Prof. Oak sighed. She really didn't get it at all. "They were official documents from the Team Rocket headquarters. An official seal is posted on them, so I have no doubt that these papers are genuine. It is a top-secret report, given only to the Elite members of Team Rocket. Whoever sent this information to me is an incredibly high rank in the criminal corporation, in fact, this person's rank is probably second only to the boss of Team Rocket."

He let these words sink in for a moment before continuing. "It details a project done by the Rocket scientists." He hesitated before continuing. "The project involves genetically-engineering a lethal microbe to… to become the world's deadliest epidemic in the history of man."

"What?" Misty, Brock, Giselle and Joe all asked in unison.

Only Gary remained silent out of the five. His face transformed into a pale white color. His eyes glowed in fear and surprise. It was like he had seen a ghost… no more like a hundred ghosts. His hands shook wildly as terrified voice echoed from his lips. "Please… please say your joking."

Professor Oak slowly shook his head as Gary stopped breathing on the spot. It took all of his energy to allow soft, life-giving oxygen to enter his lungs a few moments later. Oak then turned back to the others. "This microbe causes a disease that is so fatal, it could result in the destruction of pokemon and even mankind itself."

"WHAT!" the others chanted in disbelief. Could a disease be this lethal? Enough to doom all life on the planet?

"Unbelievable, isn't it? What's even more incredible is that this disease is supposed to cause the victims to become extremely aggressive, enough to attack and even kill others. Team Rocket is preparing to release it to the general public. They must be stopped." Prof. Oak moaned and glanced pleadingly at the others.

"But, why would Team Rocket want to kill all pokemon and decimate mankind? They would be endangering themselves!" Joe shouted stubbornly. He was still in shock at the news, though.

"For, what else? Power. The gun was created in order to destroy enemies and aid allies. The same is true with this life-threatening microbe. Giovanni, Team Rocket's boss, just wants a new weapon to play with. However, there is one good piece of news, and hope, presented in these documents." Professor Oak grinned and pointed to the notorious pile of papers.

"And what's that?" Giselle asked irritably, her arrogant and egotistical attitude now disappeared to dust.

"This report mentions that this disease is caused by bacteria. If that's true, then we can fight it with antibiotics, a drug that kills bacteria. Normally, antibiotics take years to create but we don't have to worry about that. It turns out that Team Rocket created a drug a few years ago." Professor Oak sighed before continuing. "However, if this disease spreads and becomes an epidemic, there won't be enough of this antibiotic drug to go around. Also, if we overuse this drug in the future, the bacteria might become resistant and our immune system will be totally vulnerable. Then… they win."

"In other words, we all die." Gary shouted angrily. The shock that paralyzed him only moments before now disappeared.

Professor Oak nodded. "I'm afraid that you're right. That's why we have to stop it before it becomes that serious. Humans and pokemon's lives are at stake."

"So, why did you call us here?" Misty asked, frightened by the new information that she just received.

Professor Oak looked at all of them and gave a weak smile. "Because, you are the best of the best. Joe, your experience with computers, mainly hacking into them, will be a great asset in shutting down this conspiracy. Also, you have an amazing knack in the science field. However, Gary, you will be the top scientist in this mission. You are one of the brightest scientists known and you are very well aquatinted with bacteria and other deadly diseases. Giselle, your experience as a doctor not to mention a whiz in other areas can be quite useful as well. Misty, Brock, you both are our pokemon trainers. I know that the others also have pokemon, but you two are the strongest trainers in ice/water and rock pokemon, accordingly. Also, I understand that you have been training them continually for over 6 years making them some of the strongest in the field."

For a brief moment, the five smiled as their accomplishments were being listed, forgetting the whole dilemma that they were currently faced with. Brock, however, snapped out of it quickly and turned to the Professor. "So, what exactly is our mission?"

Professor Oak smiled. "Your mission is to head to Viridian City and find the person from Team Rocket who is helping us. Try to get this person to join the team as well. They should be located in the Rocket Headquarters. The Rockets will probably be keeping the bacteria and the antibiotic also within headquarters. Obtain a sample of both if you can. I'll keep you posted for further information and mission details."

"But, how do we find the Rocket Headquarters and this person? The building could be anywhere and the person could be anyone!" Misty shouted.

"Calm down, Misty." Professor Oak soothingly replied. "Headquarters shouldn't be too difficult to find, just look for a heavily guarded building in the area. Finding this person is a little bit tricky, though. You're going to have to find an Elite Rocket member and see if they know anything about the Rebels."

"The Rebels?" Brock asked.

Professor Oak nodded. "Yes, the Rebels, us. The last page of the article refers to members that try to stop Team Rocket as a rebel group."

"Well, won't all the Elite members know about it?" Giselle questioned, for once sounding smart.

Professor Oak shook his head. "No, it's a hand-written piece." He quickly shifted through the papers and pulled out the last page. "Ok, here it is. It says: _The microbe is stored within the Rocket Headquarters. I'm counting on you to help destroy it. Beware, Team Rocket will try to kill you on the spot. This deadly procedure has been going on for too long; it has to stop, once and for all. I wish you luck, for you are the Rebels against the evil plaguing the world. Fight, and never give in, for you are the Rebels trying to battle a lethal process that has been going on for years. Revolt against the danger that is presented against you and everyone shall know that wrath of the Rebels."_

"Wow, that was beautiful." Misty sighed. "It was poetry… at least we know that this person loves writing poetry."

Gary shook his head. "That wasn't so much as poetry as it was inspirational. Whoever this person is, they were a born leader and know how to encourage people to fight."

"I agree with Gary." Professor Oak turned to his grandson. "This person does seem like a leader. They knew that we were going to have a lot of work to do in order to stop this. These words are similar to what a general in a war would say to his soldiers in order to motivate them for battle. This person seems so familiar… somehow…"

"Sir," Joe whispered. "We have a problem."

"Already? What is it?" Professor Oak groaned.

Joe dropped his head to the ground. "I can't go."

"What! Why not? You have to go! The world is at stake!" Gary cried jumping to his feet. His anger subsided with one look from the Professor, though. Gary sat back down, still glaring at poor Joe.

"Is something wrong, Joe?" Professor Oak gently asked.

Joe nodded. "You see, I broke my leg three days ago." He then pulled up the fabric that surrounded his leg, revealing a cast to the group. "If I go, I'll just slow the whole team down. I'll just leave." Joe started to limp out of the room when Brock stopped him.

"Wait a second, Joe. Couldn't you just stay here with the Professor and help us out by obtaining information?" Brock ushered him back into the room.

Joe lifted his head and gasped. He could do that and it would benefit the team a great deal. "That's a great idea, Brock!" Joe turned to the Professor, with a pleadingly look in his eyes. "Is that all right with you?"

Professor grinned. "That's more than all right. In fact, it'll be nice to have someone other than myself around here."

"Excellent!" Joe jumped in the air happily.

Professor Oak turned to the other four. "As for the rest of you, you guys can load up on supplies in the lab. Good luck on your mission. Remember, succeeding is the only possibility. As our source said, let the world know the wrath of the Rebels."

*~*~*~*~*~*

AK sighed when he saw the door. Five guards all packing heat eyed him cautiously for a moment until he showed them his wristband. "I'm Agent 035829, also known as AK. Giovanni sent for me a quarter of an hour ago."

The guards nodded and allowed him to pass. One of them, who clearly knew him, whispered to AK. "Be careful. The Boss is in a very bad mood."

AK turned to the guard and smiled weakly. "Isn't he always?" He then disappeared behind a door.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Boss, AK is here to see you." A voice echoed in a dark room covered with shadows. 

A man starts to move, at the sound of the voice, to what appears to be a table and a chair. Half concealed by the darkness, he leans over the desk and searches for a small machine. He presses a button and bends over even further until his face is inches away from the device. "Send him right in."

The man coolly walked over to the chair and sat down in it. An angry cry erupted from underneath him as an agile figure leaped out of the chair that it was momentarily enjoying. "Persian, I told you not to sit in my chair." The man growled threateningly as the enormous cat slipped into the shadows.

The door creaked open as a young man walked into the black room. He blended in well with the scene because of his choice of dark clothes. In fact, he would have been impossible to see if it wasn't for the help of a pokemon that sat on his shoulders, a Pikachu. The yellow rodent sparkled with deadly electricity momentarily filling the room with light. "You know, you really ought to install some lights in here."

The man nodded and pressed a button as bright sunlight bounced into the room. An unsuspecting fool would have shielded their eyes at the sudden burst of light, but not AK. He knew the Boss' tricks and simply produced a pair of sunglasses for himself and Pikachu.

"Is that better, AK?" The man asked sarcastically.

"Much, Giovanni." AK replied giving him one of those award-winning smiles.

However, Giovanni didn't see anything amusing in his statement. "Don't call me that." He snarled.

"Fine, Boss. Why am I here?" AK asked.

Giovanni cracked a smile. "A group of morons is coming here, trying to interfere with our operations on the Stellar microbe."

AK snickered. "Where do I come in?"

Giovanni's evil grin increased in size. "To do what you do best: kill and destroy."

AK raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I only do that when it comes to the Serpent Clan."

"Well, now you will change to meddling pests." Giovanni petted his pet Persian that clambered up to his side.

AK grinned devilishly. "This group of rebels probably hasn't even reached Viridian City yet you already want them destroyed. Do I sense _fear in your voice?"_

Giovanni glared angrily at the stubborn young adult. "Is THAT what you think?" Calming down, he added. "I've learned from experience that it is better to kill fast and quick before the enemy has a chance to think than wait for them to have a chance to retaliate."

"Still, shouldn't we be on lookout for the Serpents? They are planning a raid on headquarters soon." AK faced him definitely.

"That is being taken care of as we speak. The other Rocket members are scouting ahead and are acting as guards around the outer perimeter." Giovanni stepped away from his chair and desk and approached AK. The light engrossed him and every feature of his face could be seen as clear as day, a rare sight within Team Rocket. "As, for you, AK, you will go to Viridian, find these people and destroy them. Visit the old abandoned building at the edge of town first, though."

"You mean our old headquarters?" AK questioned.

Giovanni nodded. "Exactly."

"But that's the place where the Serpents are most likely to attack. They don't even know that we've moved." AK commented.

"I doubt that even the Serpents are stupid enough not to know that we have changed positions." Giovanni carelessly dismissed the thought from his head, however, he added. "But, kill any on sight, if you see them. I will be dispatching a group of 10 of the finest sharpshooters to help you on your mission. They will meet you at the old headquarters."

AK narrowed his eyes. "I work alone."

Giovanni nodded. "I know, but I can't risk sending only one man to kill a group. The sharpshooters will meet you there in an hour."

AK petted Pikachu barely even listening to the Boss's words. He responded with the automatic response, "Fine, sir." And started walking out of the room.

"This mission is important. Don't fail me. You know the consequences, Ash." Giovanni threatened.

Ash stopped and turned around to meet Giovanni's deadly stare. "The name is AK. Ash is no more."

Giovanni grinned malevolently. "If you fail this mission, I'll make sure that you'll be turned into ash, permanently."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Are we there yet?" Giselle whined while the rest of the group groaned. Why did the Professor send this annoying brat on the mission anyway?

"For the hundredth time, no! If we were at Viridian, then we'd see buildings, streets and other people! Grow a brain, Giselle." Gary moaned as the others silently agreed, but were too considerate to say so.

Giselle gasped in horror. Everyone always treated her like a queen, why was it different with Gary and the rest of the group? Don't they know whom they're traveling with? "Shut up Gary! If I'd had known that we were doing all of this walking, I wouldn't have wore high heels."

"You're wearing high heels? On a hike through the woods?" Misty asked in shock. Then she started giggling and had difficulty stopping. "What kind of idiot wears high heels on a hike?"

"For your information, Misty, I didn't know that we were going on a hike. However, I wouldn't except a brainless dope, like yourself, to understand good fashion, since you clearly don't have it." Giselle taunted.

Misty narrowed her eyes. No one gets away with insulting her. "Why, you little pompous stuck-up arrogant bimbo! I oughta bash your head in so hard that…"

"HOLD IT!" Brock cried running in between the two girls. He knew that he shouldn't get in the middle of a catfight, but they seriously didn't have time for that now. "Stop arguing! We're trying to save mankind and pokemon from a virtually incurable disease! This disease, whatever it is, will kill hundreds of people and pokemon, if it hasn't already done so. We need to stay focused."

The two girls shut up, still glaring at one another, though. Gary, on the other hand, sighed in disappointment. He wanted to see this catfight. However, he turned his attention ahead of him and yelled. "Guys, come here quick! I think we've reached Viridian!"

The others raced to his side and smiled. The beautiful city lay before them, seemingly awaiting their arrival. After a few minutes, the group entered the area.

Misty smiled and shouted in glee "We're on the road to Viridian City! We're on the road to Viridian City!"

"No we aren't. We are _in Viridian City!" Gary snickered._

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "I knew that, but doesn't that phrase have a great beat to it? It would make a really good song, if you ask me."

"The day that they make a song entitled 'Viridian City' is the day they make a song about you." Giselle groaned. Misty was really starting to get on her nerves.

Misty, however, didn't take it as a joke. "A song about me? That would be cool! They would call it Misty's Song! It would be a romantic piece about…"

"Oh, brother!" Gary and Giselle moaned under their breaths.

Misty scowled at the two. "I heard that."

"Ok, what's first on the agenda?" Brock asked as the three stared blankly back at him. "I figured that no one would have a plan, so, I thought of one. We should ask the police if they have any ideas on the Rocket's hideout."

"But the police won't know anything!" Gary exclaimed.

Misty shrugged. "At least it's a start."

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Misty. They might even be able to give us an idea of where to begin looking." Giselle sighed.

"So, then it's agreed. We visit the police station." Brock stated.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Officer Jenny, do you have any other information that might be useful to us?" Misty asked. She looked over at Brock, drooling like a dog over Jenny. Why he falls for every single Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy in every city is a complete mystery. All the Jenny's look exactly alike along with all the Joy's. Misty shook her head. She'll never understand guys.

"No, I'm afraid not." Officer Jenny answered. She was starting to get uncomfortable by Brock who had this goofy look on his face.

"Thanks anyway." Gary commented as the group exited out of the police station. "Well, that was a total waste of time."

"Just being with Officer Jenny makes my day…" Brock trailed off in a strange, inhuman voice.

Giselle sweatdropped at Brock's ridiculous behavior and turned to Misty and Gary. "Actually, it wasn't a total waste of time. We did find their headquarters."

"You mean their _old headquarters from like 6 months ago." Misty corrected and stared at Brock. Just as she thought… still in dreamland._

Gary sighed. "Still, that leads us nowhere. It's not like their going to leave us directions to their hideout in that old building."

"Well, still, we might be able to find a clue." Misty remarked.

"Yea right. The Rockets wouldn't leave anything that might incriminate them. They are too smart for that." Gary groaned.

Giselle whispered. "Well, at least it's a place to start…"

"That's what you said about the police station!" Gary yelled angrily. He then turned to Brock. "Brock… it's time to wake up. Snap out of it! We need your opinion!"

"Allow me." Misty politely spoke and even did a cute curtsy. She then whipped her mallet out and banged Brock out of his perverted fantasies.

Brock awoke with a start to find himself on the ground with a very bad headache. "What?"

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Gary asked.

"We might want to check out the Rocket's old headquarters." Brock stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I guess that I'm outnumbered but, still, isn't there anything else that…" Gary's voice trailed off when he saw Officer Jenny race out of the police station.

"All officers in the area! Repeat! We have an emergency over at the Pokemon Center! Reports of strange affairs noted! Pokemon are turning on their trainers! There are rumors that this could be the work of a disease, so keep your guard up!" Officer Jenny panted into her microphone as she started running past the group.

"Looks like trouble." Brock testified, this time not going crazy over the blue-haired woman.

"No kidding." Gary agreed as he watched the lady run past him. "Ok, Brock and Misty, since you two are so set on checking out that old building, then go while Giselle and I see what's going on in the Pokemon Center. Meet back here in an hour."

"Right." Brock and Misty both chimed as the group split up.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Memories… terrible memories.

Ash sighed as he entered the old building. It was painted black as night and made him shiver not in fear but of foreboding. Something was going to happen here… he just knew it… somehow.

"(This place has changed.)" Pikachu gasped when he saw the burn marks on the building and the broken doors and windows. It's so hard to believe that this place used to hold the dangerous group of criminals known as Team Rocket. Now, all it holds is dust.

"No kidding, pal." By now, Ash and Pikachu had entered a dark room, lighted only by a couple cracks in the walls in which sunlight spewed out of. The room was nothing more than four walls, six if you include the floor and ceiling. Nothing besides dust and dirt lay around the room.

Ash grinned when he looked at Pikachu perched on his shoulder. Through all these horrible years, only one good thing occurred: a strong bond with his pokemon. With every new pokemon that he received during the years, he always bonded with them and they learned to respect him and admire him. The nicest part was that he could now talk to Pikachu like a regular human. The only nice memories over the past six years have been talking to Pikachu and training his pokemon. He cared deeply for his pokemon. At least he hadn't changed in that respect. "Pikachu, use your flash."

Pikachu's body began to glow, blinding Ash in the process. However, it gave him a chance to look around. He could now make out a few empty crates, a couple of steel chains and… a person? Ash knew better than to yell out and gain attention from the person, but the person already knew that he was here thanks to Pikachu. "Pikachu, stop your flash." He whispered.

The strong light dissipated. Darkness once again ruled the room as Ash stealthily approached the man. Pikachu sniffed its nose at the foreign smell and jumped off of Ash's shoulders, ready for battle. 

"Looking for someone?" A strange voice echoed from the darkness. It was close… too close.

Ash jumped around and found that he was in the arms of a husky fellow. Although he could barely see, Ash was able to make out a snake-like tattoo imprinted on the guy's shoulder. "A Serpent?"

"A Rocket? An Elite Rocket!" The man shouted angrily and moved his arms slightly until he was holding Ash by the neck. He eyed Ash's ominous wristband, which had a bright red "R" situated on it. "Prepare to die."

Ash groaned at his stupid mistake. He totally fell into this trap. Worse yet, he didn't take off his wristband. Drat! Why didn't he take off his wristband? He could have easily convinced this guy that he was just a wandering pokemon trainer, but no, he just had to wear the damn wristband, didn't he?

As the man's grip tightened, Ash calmly scanned the area for Pikachu. This man was stupid to underestimate Pikachu by not capturing it first. "Pikachu, electric paralysis!"

The man glanced in horror below him as he saw a tiny yellow pokemon crackling with energy, charging up for its next attack. He accidentally loosened his grip on Ash. Ash took advantage of the moment and tackled him out of his vice-grip. Ash then dived out of the way, knowing what was coming. It was not a moment to soon, for Pikachu began to unleashed his powerful attack. A glowing yellow ball formed around its body. The room lit up brightly as the ball increased in magnitude. Finally, the rodent released his attack, aiming it at the man who was still woozy from Ash's tackle. The sparkling mass of pure energy slammed straight into the man. His body glowed and he screamed in pain as he felt the full force of the attack hit him. The electricity was so massive that even after the attack was long finished, his body still sizzled with sparks of electricity.

Pikachu grinned proudly. He was still pumped with energy even after using so much power. In fact, Pikachu regained power as the sparks of electricity returned to him, as if by magic, making him even more charged than he was before.

Ash smiled devilishly at the scene. Pikachu sure packs quite a punch. He loved that attack the best for it paralyzed the victim but didn't kill them. He hated killing people, even if it was someone from the Serpents, a group even more wicked than Team Rocket. The man would now be out cold for days or weeks, depending on how much energy Pikachu put into the attack.

"Onix go!" Ash turned around and wasn't surprised to see a giant stone snake known as an Onix. What surprised him, though, was the group of a dozen people that started to emerge from the shadows. They must have been through the other areas of the compound and came when they heard the commotion from the room. One of them pulled the man that Pikachu paralyzed away from the scene and disappeared into the darkness.

"More Serpent slim to crush, Pikachu." Ash grinned.

One of the members from the group, obviously the leader and trainer of the rock snake, yelled. "For killing a member from our clan, time to face the consequences: death. Onix go!"

The rock hard pokemon roared in terror as it approached Ash. It licked its lips; it could almost taste the blood. Onix dived towards Ash, who simply jumped out of the way. The pokemon slammed its agile body against the floor and tried again, but Ash sprang out of its way. Once again, the pokemon tried to smash Ash into a million pieces, but it didn't work.

"You can't keep this up forever, Rocket scum!" The leader cried angrily while the rest of the group chanted in agreement. "Onix, use your tail!"

Angrily, the rock creature whipped its massive tail over its head and pounded the ground again and again, but Ash was just too quick for it. Finally, it saw an opening; Ash was catching his breath for a moment. Smiling slyly; Onix laid its tail on the ground and slid it across the floor towards Ash. Once again, Ash avoided it by jumping insanely high in the air, but this time, he grabbed the tail of the massive Onix. The Onix snarled in anger at the pest that was now attached to him. Lifting its massive jaws towards the intruder, Onix swirled around and starting charging towards him. Ash simply waited for the right moment and jumped off of Onix's tail and onto his upper back. Onix, who never noticed this, clamped down on the area that Ash had been moments before, but instead, squealed in pain when he crunch into the rocky skin of his own tail. The snake howled, confused to say the least. This gave Ash enough time to climb up to the top of its head.

"Onix! Watch out! He's on your head!" The leader shouted in surprise. He never realized how hard it was to kill a Rocket.

However, the warning came too late, for Ash blinded Onix by covering its eyes with his hands. Bellowing and clearly agitated, the snake creature turned its head from side to side, trying to shake off this parasite. Ash held on to dear life, yet continued to blind Onix with his hands. Ash knew that he couldn't keep this up, and started searching around the room. Ahead of him was a steel chain attached to the roof with a few crates below it sitting right next to a wall. It would be risky… but it was worth a shot.

"Be careful! There's a Blastoise behind you!" Ash whispered to the creature. Onix shook in alarm at the statement. It was now so disoriented that it actually believed him. Ash smiled as he saw the rock pokemon slide forward. Rock pokemon are naturally afraid of water pokemon, like Blastoise, for they can easily be killed with enough water; good thing Ash remembered this.

Just before Onix smashed into the crates and the wall, Ash leaped off the pokemon and grabbed the steel chains that swung from the wall. When Onix finally got its vision back, it gasped in shock as saw that it was heading at top speed towards a wall. It tried to stop, but it was going way too fast. Bracing itself for impact, Onix smashed against the wall, head on, shaking the building to its very core.

Ash hurriedly climbed down the chain as the wall crumbled. Onix lay motionless outside, in the grass, covered with debris from the collapsed wall. Blood tricked from its rocky shell as the leader sobbed. "Onix! Oh no! Are you ok?"

Onix moved its head slightly at the sound of its trainer's voice. It smiled and then blacked out. "How can this be. Onix return!" The pokemon flew back into its pokeball. Surprise was etched on the leader's otherwise stone face.

Pikachu grinned at the scene. He watched from the sidelines, knowing full well that Ash could easily take care of himself. He also knew that Ash could have easily clobbered Onix with his pokemon, but he chose not to. Ash was just that type of person. With fortunate luck on his side, Ash could probably win against a dozen Onixs without even touching his pokeballs.

Pikachu scurried up to Ash's shoulder. "Well, that was a good workout." Ash commented, mocking the life-and-death struggle that took place before as simply a training exercise.

"You devil! There is no way someone can beat an Onix single-handedly!" The leader growled accusingly.

Ash stared at the man in amusement. "Yet you just witnessed it first hand."

The man drew a pistol from his pocket. "It ends here, Rocket."

Most would have quivered at the sight of the deadly weapon, but Ash never even broke a sweat. He had seen it so many times that it didn't even scare him any more. "The name is AK. And if you still want to battle, then so be it."

The leader laughed like an insane lunatic. "Battle? I want to blow your brains out, fool!"

Ash simply smiled. "Sorry, I prefer my brains in my skull, if you don't mind."

"Enough of this small talk! Die!" The leader pressed the pistol as the bullet swirled straight towards them.

"Pikachu, lightning shield!" Ash cried, but Pikachu instinctively formed the attack before Ash even spoke. A ball of yellowish light engulfed the two as the bullet plunged forward. Instead of drawing blood, the bullet sputtered with electricity and disappeared to dust.

"What! This can not be! I said die!" The leader barked and shot several more times, but all of the bullets were disintegrated the moment they touched the shield made out of sheer electricity.

Ash, who was now crouched on the ground, smiled when he saw that his plan worked. "Now, reflect. Lightning bullet attack!"

Still keeping the shield up, Pikachu concentrated and a little bullet of pure energy headed straight towards the horrified leader. It hit him and he screamed in pain. The attack fried his body and it exploded with electricity. The spectators in the room had to shield their eyes from the intensity of the attack. When the light faded, it was easy to see the result: death.

The other people from the Serpent Clan all screamed and raced out of the room. Ash smiled at his little pokemon, who was now exhausted from the attack. "Good job, Pikachu. You're always able to pull off the newest and coolest attacks."

Pikachu huffed, tired but happy. Anyone who tried to kill his trainer like that deserved that utter torture released from the attack.

Ash cringed when he saw the body of the man, blood gushing from his wounds like a river. He hated killing people, he really did.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"What's going on here?" Gary asked, baffled at the sight that approached his eyes. People and pokemon… pokemon and people… all were running around the area in panic. This couldn't be a Pokemon Center, could it?

"Is THIS the effects of the disease? Pokemon acting like wild wolves trying to kill each other and their trainers?" Giselle gasped, forgetting what the Professor had told her earlier. She was in sheer shock at the scene. The pokemon looked like bloodthirsty killers, aggressive to say the least. People were screaming in horror as blood trickled from their numerous wounds.

"You mean that this crisis really is caused by a disease?" Officer Jenny stared at the horrible sight, not wanting to believe it for a moment. "It's like all the pokemon have gone crazy!"

"No kidding." Giselle and Gary sighed in unison. How were they going to stop this?

"We need to contain these pokemon and get these people out of here." Officer Jenny stated and turned to the two. "Do you guys want to help?"

"Of course!" the two nodded.

"Can we get them into their pokeballs?" Gary asked.

Officer Jenny shrugged her shoulders. "I think we can get most of them in, but we won't be able to find all the trainers and ask for them to recall their pokemon."

Giselle climbed over the front desk and sat in the chair normally occupied by Nurse Joy. She found a speaker nearby and spoke into it. "Everyone! These pokemon are probably infected with a disease, so avoid their bites. Try to get them back in their pokeballs so that this problem can be dealt with properly. Please, recall all your pokemon back into their pokeballs!"

Dozens of voices thundered in the building and shouts of "return" could be heard echoing from all over the center. Gary sighed. "Let's hope this works. Who knows these pokemon can do if they get into the city."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Brock, we've been wandering for 10 minutes. Viridian City isn't that big and we've passed by the police station three times! Did you get us lost again?" Misty whined, noticing the confused look on Brock's face.

"I know where I'm going, Misty! 7th street is probably two or three blocks down." Brock insisted, although he really had no idea where he was going.

"Brock, look at that street sign there." Misty pointed to a nearby sign.

Brock looked at it. "Yea, it says 1st street, so what?"

Misty turned to Brock. "No, it says 7th street."

"Misty, you sure are seeing things today. It says 1st street." Brock stated.

"Brock! There is no 1st street!" Misty exclaimed.

Brock lowered his head. "Oh, then we've been wandering on it all this time."

Misty face-faulted. "Gosh, and I thought that Ash had a bad sense of direction."

Boom! The loud sound shook the very ground that they were standing on. Misty and Brock both lost their balance and hit the pavement.

"What was that?" Brock asked.

Misty searched the area as something caught her eye. "There straight ahead. On the end on 7th street, towards the edge of town." In that area, a dark building appeared to have suffered some major damage. Its old and threatening appearance was lost on the two when they noticed a hole in the side of the building and a head sticking out of it.

"Is that an Onix?" Brock questioned, jumping to his feet.

"I think so." Misty whispered and starting running towards the building. "I have a feeling that our search is over."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash scratched his little pokemon beyond the ears. Pikachu, although tired, grinned in happiness. It loved it when Ash did that.

Ash smiled as he watched the expression on Pikachu's face change to a peaceful one. He panted and started examining the area. Something… no someone… someone was coming.

Ash immediately stopped and stared at the only entrance in the building. Yes… he could actually hear footsteps. He motioned Pikachu to be quiet and they both moved behind one of the few crates that wasn't shattered by Onix.

Light poured in as the door opened and Ash could barely make out two figures. One was a guy dressed in a loose shirt and sweatpants. The girl was cast in an aqua blue shirt and tight fitting shorts. They certainly didn't look like members of the Serpent Clan, but one can never be too sure about these things. They might be just covering their tattoos under their long-sleeved shirts. Ash decided to watch the pair a little longer before he made his move.

"The place is deserted. I can't even see where we're going." The girl remarked. She shivered as she glanced around the room. It was like someone was watching her.

The guy, obviously older than the girl, nodded. "You're right. But, I swear I saw the head of an Onix poking through that hole."

The girl simply shrugged. "May be whoever they were left and that Onix is now in a pokeball."

Ash sighed. They didn't know about the raid on the building. They were probably curious bystanders that happened to be in the area. However, he couldn't leave until they left… well, unless he wanted to face them. But, Pikachu was exhausted and he wasn't exactly in the best shape. Waiting seemed like a good idea at the present moment.

"Do you think that they might have left any clues around here?" The guy asked and turned to his female companion.

"Let's check out the area by the hole in the wall." The girl suggested and the duo walked to the wall which was extremely close to Ash and Pikachu's hideout. "Oh my! This man is dead!"

The guy gasped in terror when he saw the dead man on the floor. "You're right!" He then took a closer look at him. "That's weird, he appears to have been electrocuted, but it also looks like he was shot. I don't get it!"

After noticing the gun, the woman suggested. "Maybe he shot himself or maybe it was the work of a pokemon."

The man shook his head. "I don't think that he shot himself and I seriously doubt that a pokemon could have the power to induce such a powerful attack. Not even a Raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu and one of the most powerful electric pokemon in the world, could ever make this sort of damage."

Ash smiled under his breath and glanced down at Pikachu proudly. He really had done an excellent job of raising it, even if he did say so himself.

Pikachu, on the other hand, glanced at the boy and girl and felt strange. It was like he had known them for years… it was like they were some of his best friends. Pikachu soon dismissed the thought, though. They hadn't had friends in years.

The guy stood by the hole and examined it properly. "It looks like the work of an Onix, but I never knew that an Onix could damage a wall so severely."

"Maybe it rammed into it at full speed." The girl commented.

Ash was starting to get restless. He was pretty sure that these people weren't from the Serpents, or at least didn't know of the raid that they were planning on this building, yet they simply weren't just innocent bystanders. They knew a lot about pokemon, so they were probably pokemon trainers, yet that just didn't fit. It was almost like they were investigating the area like detectives… like they were on a mission to search the building.

"Pikachu, what do you say? Should we wait them out, confront them or make a run for it?" Ash whispered softly to his pokemon. Unfortunately, it wasn't quiet enough.

"Did you just hear something?" the girl turned around.

The guy shook his head. "No, your probably just imaging things again, Mis…"

"No! I'm positive that I heard something… over there." The girl interrupted and pointed to some nearby crates; the same crates where Ash and Pikachu were hiding.

"(We're in trouble now.)" Pikachu whispered into Ash's ear. Ash simply nodded. They were going to have to confront them after all.

The pair suspiciously eyed the crates and started walking towards them. Pikachu scampered away from the area and the two watched it. "A Pikachu? What's it doing around here?" the guy questioned. He then turned to the girl and quickly added. "Do you think that its trainer is nearby?"

The girl tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the opposite side of the crate where a dark man was standing, dressed from top to bottom in a black. He was enveloped in a dark coat, the hood covering his face, making it impossible to make out his features. "I think that he is here."

"Who are you?" the man asked Ash, clearly frightened by his sudden appearance.

Ash sighed. He remembered the days when he would fall for an innocent question like that by answering it truthfully. Normally, he was attacked and threatened for such stupid behavior. Now, he knew better than to willingly exchange information with strangers, even if they didn't look like a threat. "I was about to ask the same question."

The guy cleared his breath and started speaking. "Well, we are from the Re…"

The girl covered his month with her hands and ordered him to be quiet. "Shut up! We can't revel that information just yet until we find out who this guy is."

Ash ignored them for the time-being and motioned Pikachu to sit on his shoulder. The electric rat scuttled up his body and jumped onto the comfortable spot. "May I at least ask what you guys are doing here?"

Once again, the guy tried to answer the question. "Well, we're here to investigate…" but was cut off by the girl.

"Can you stay quiet for a moment and let me do the talking?" she interrupted and added. "He could just as easily be from Team Rocket."

"And what's wrong with the Rockets?" Ash questioned, crossing his hands over his chest. He really looked frightening as black shadows circled his body.

"Um, nothing. We just need to find them." The girl promptly answered.

"And why is that?" Ash asked gently. He loved playing with people that were oblivious to the gruesome life lead by Team Rocket.

The girl stopped for a moment, thinking of the right words to say. If she said anything stupid, she knew that this guy could probably kill her in a flash of an eye. "We need some information from them… we need to talk to one of the Elite members… yea, that's right."

The boy elbowed her in the ribs, motioning for her not to speak. She had stated too much information, at least in his opinion. "Something like that, yes."

Ash looked over the pair once again. What exactly did they want with Team Rocket? And what was with all this Elite business? After all, they were only four Elite members, himself included. Could they be trying to kill the top agents of Team Rocket in order to stop the organization once and for all? They certainly didn't look like that; they didn't have the murderous attitude that those henchmen usually had. But, why else would they want an Elite member of Team Rocket? Ash quickly slipped his wristband off, remembering the trouble that it caused beforehand, and shoved it in his coat pocket. He then turned to them and grinned devilishly. "I see. What's so great about the Elite members? They are usually arrogant pompous jerks that kill for fun. Besides, the four members are rarely ever seen, especially in the middle of the day."

The guy and girl both turned to each other. They were equally confused and surprised by this person's statement. If this Elite person had such a bad attitude, then why was this person trying to help them in the first place? And how are they going to find them if they are hardly ever seen? "Really?" The girl gasped.

Ash smiled at the looks on the faces of the two people. He loved using that speech because no one would ever guess that he was an Elite member. However, he was equally surprised. If they didn't even know that there were four Elite members and that they are usually next-to-impossible to find, then they couldn't be henchmen let alone criminals for that matter. That information about the Elite members was a well-known fact in the underworld of crime. Ash decided that they were clearly no threat to him and walked away from the shadows that covered his body. He then removed his hood and Pikachu jumped off of him, standing next to his feet protectively. "Yes, there are only four members and I know them all."

The guy heaved a sigh of relief. Their search might not be as hard as they originally had thought. "You know all of them?"

"You do?" The girl gasped gratefully. They were finally getting somewhere. She then glanced at this dark figure's face. His rich black spiky hair was quite short and messy. Clearly, it hadn't been combed in days. His fair skin seemed to pale in the light and his deep brown eyes glowed in intensity. He seemed to be well associated with the workings of criminal world. However, there also appeared an air of sadness about him; like he had lost something… something very important in his life… something that made him whole.

"Yes, I do. In fact, I know one of them extremely well in particular. I guess you could call him a close friend." Ash smiled at his own little joke that only Pikachu and he could understand. In fact, Pikachu started giggling at the statement, but he managed to hide it a moment later. The innocence of these people was almost unconceivable in Ash's eyes. He realized that his first impression was indeed correct, there was no way that these two could ever be criminals, even if they tried. "Call me AK."

"Ok then, AK. Can you tell us where to find these four?" the girl asked politely, getting the impression that he was starting to trust them. Perhaps they could even use this to their advantage.

Ash simply shook his head. "I'm sorry but that information is classified."

"So, in other words, you don't know." The girl harshly spoke.

Ash cringed at the statement. He almost blurted out his secret, but all those ruthless years of training didn't go to waste. However, he was surprised that she managed to get under his skin like that and increase his anger. Not many people could do that, nowadays. "No, lady, don't get me wrong or anything. I do in fact know all of their locations, even at the present moment. But that's only for me to know and for you to find out. If you don't believe me, then so be it."

The girl snarled in anger. How did this guy manage to avoid her trap? Most people would have hotly yelled out the information before they even realized what had happened. But, this guy was good. He seemed to know her tricks and countered-acted them without even breaking a sweat. He was clearly no fool. "Are we getting a little defensive now? I just asked a simple question and you jumped down my throat. What's with that? Do we have something to hide?"

Ash sighed. This girl wasn't going to give up easily. Well, he certainly didn't have time for this. The 10 sharpshooters that Giovanni hired should be coming any minute. Let them deal with these pests. The sharpshooters… his brain changed its train of thought on them. Those fools… it wasn't like he needed them in the first place. Why did the boss want him to work with them, anyway? He could easily fake that stupid mission Giovanni sent him on without all those airheads slowing him down. Turning his attention back to the pair, Ash spoke. "Well, it has been a pleasure talking with you all, but I have more important matters to attend to. Perhaps we shall meet again." Ash and Pikachu started walking towards the door as the two stared at the retreating figure.

"See, look what you've done, Misty!" the guy whispered and shoved Misty as she glared angrily at him.

"Well, you couldn't have done any better, Brock!" Misty murmured back. By now, Ash was approaching the door, far out of listening range of the quiet conversation. Misty noticed this and racked her brains for some sort of excuse to make this guy stay. "I challenge you to a pokemon match!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Ash, who was barely five feet from the door, stopped and turned around. A pokemon match? He hadn't experienced one of those in ages! He always used his pokemon in serious battles in which they could be killed. "Sorry, but I really don't have time for that. My pokemon are at such a high level, they could easily clobber yours."

"Are you willing to put your money where your month is?" Misty shot back defensively.

Ash was cheerfully shocked. This girl was quite a fighter. Her stubborn air was strangely familiar. Perhaps she may be worth some of his valuable time. After all, it's not like he has anything particularly important to attend to; it wasn't like he was going to complete that mission, anyway. "What do you suggest?"

Brock gasped in shock at Misty and was doubly surprised by the dark figure. It was one thing that Misty yelled a challenge at the weirdest possible moment but it was totally another thing that this man accepted. He really never excepted that a criminal would ever have a passion towards pokemon battles like this guy seemed to possess.

"A two-on-two match against me and my friend here. If we win, then you have to tell us the location of those four Elite members of Team Rocket." Misty called.

Ash completely turned around and shouted. "Two against one? Isn't that a little unfair?"

Misty sighed. He was right. "Fine, just me then."

Ash shook his head. It would be fun humiliating these two in battle. "Actually, that's fine… both of you against me. That will make it a little bit more interesting."

Brock screamed. "Ok then. Shall we battle?"

"And what's in it for me?" Ash questioned.

Misty racked her brains trying to think of a good answer. "We'll tell you who we are and why we want to question Team Rocket."

Ash waved his hand in the air and shook his head. "No deal. Things like that don't interest me."

"Then what does interest you?" Misty asked frantically.

Ash pondered this thought in silence. He knew what "interested" him… he knew what he wanted, his old life back. The simple days before he joined this horrid organization… the days before Misty, Brock and his mom died… all he wanted was to relive those blessed days once again. "Let's just say that what I really want can never be attained."

"Well, we'll give up all of our pokemon if you win." Brock shouted frantically.

Once again, Ash shook his head. These two really were a funny pair. "You can keep your pokemon. I'm not that type of person. I may be an outlaw, but I don't make those types of deals. I'm just trying to get by in this world."

"How about money?" Misty suggested.

"Money does not make happiness." Ash simply stated.

"Gosh, you certainly don't sound like a criminal." Brock sighed.

"You know, in a way, you're right." Ash moaned. He never really didn't have the desire to steal, cheat or kill like his other peers.

"AK, give us a break. We _need this information. It's a life-and-death matter involving hundreds of people and pokemon." Misty groaned._

Ash walked over to the two and cupped a pokeball in his hands. "How about we battle for the fun of it then?"

"WHAT!" Misty and Brock cried in unison. They never expected that answer.

"If you win, I'll tell you what you want. If I win, I get nothing in return. Frankly, pokemon shouldn't be used for bets." Ash declared.

Misty and Brock both felt like they were three inches tall. He was right; pokemon battles were meant to raise the skill and level of a pokemon and to improve a pokemon and even a trainer's ability to battle. It was never meant for betting.

"Well, are we going to battle?" Ash impatiently groaned.

"Sure!" the two cried.

"Ok, I'll battle both of you and if one of you can beat me in a match, then I'll give you the information that you want." Ash stated.

"That's fine with us. Let's just have a good, clean pokemon battle." Misty grinned. This was going to be a good match.

*~*~*~*~*~*

# Round 1: Brock vs. Ash 

(Author's note: Remember, Brock and Misty don't know that they are talking or battling with Ash. The same is true with Ash; he doesn't know that these two people are Brock and Misty. I hope that this doesn't confuse people.)

"All right, this is a two-on-two match. Only one pokemon allowed to battle at a time. No time limit. Let the battle begin!" Misty shouted.

"Go Vulpix!" Brock exclaimed and threw down a pokeball. It opened and a cute, red fiery fox with a beautiful tail and glossy silver eyes materialized.

"Haunter, I choose you!" Ash screamed and a ghost pokemon appeared. Composed of only a purple head and two claw-like hands, Haunter opened its month, exposing its tongue and seemed to laugh at its opponent.

"A GHOST POKEMON! How in God's name did you get a ghost pokemon!" Brock shivered, clearly frightened at the appearance of Haunter. He remembered the last time he had seen such a gruesome creature; he was only 14, then, exploring a creepy towers with his friends, Ash and Misty. However, the experience shook him up and almost killed Ash. It was then that he learned that such monsters could never be caught for they were just too powerful.

Ash smiled at the commotion Haunter was making. "I told you that my pokemon were extremely powerful."

"Still, how did you manage to catch one?" Misty inquired.

Ash shrugged. "When you have a Pikachu that performs unique and seemingly impossible attacks, anything is possible." 

Pikachu smiled proudly at this statement, while Misty and Brock cowered back in fear. What kind of attacks is he talking about? Were they actually powerful enough to defeat a ghost pokemon?

Brock sighed. "Ok, Vulpix, this is going to be a tough battle, but we can do it. Flamethrower attack!"

The cute fox pokemon nodded and let a stream of fire spew towards Haunter. However, the hot flames just passed through the pokemon without affecting it one bit. "Haunter, confuse ray." Ash ordered.

The ghost pokemon obeyed and shot a ray of yellowish-white light towards the creature. The pretty pokemon dived out of the way and the attack missed. "Good job, Vulpix! Give it your swift attack!"

Vulpix concentrated and tiny, numerous yellow stars shot straight towards Haunter. The few that did hit drained some of its energy, but not by much. Ash grinned. "Nice tactic, but its not going to work. Haunter, lick."

Haunter threateningly approached the beauty queen pokemon and let its tongue hang from its month. Vulpix tried to dodge the attack, but Haunter was just too quick for it. It released its pink tongue and licked the unfortunate pokemon. This attack not only served to gross the pokemon out; it also paralyzed it. Vulpix fell like a log for it was totally knocked out from the single attack.

"Oh no! Vulpix return!" Brock shouted and the creature disappeared in a flash of red light. "Go get them, Rhydon!" 265 pounds of pure rock emerged from the pokeball. The creature roared; its menacing horn beckoned from the top of its skull. The huge dinosaur pokemon, with its jagged teeth, blood-shot eyes and claws on its feet and hands, definitely defined the phrase "big and mean". "Rhydon, dig underground!"

Ash gasped in surprise. Dig attack could wipe out Haunter, unless he used strategy. "Haunter, create a substitute to take the full force of the blast!"

Haunter magically formed into a tiny little figure that looked like a toy, however, it really was protection against the upcoming attack. "Ok, Rhydon, crush that substitute with your dig attack!"

The beast emerged from underground and pounded the tiny toy senseless. The attack was strong enough to break the substitute and to tire Haunter out considerably. Ash knew that he had one shot before Haunter was knocked out; he had to make it a good one. "Ok, Haunter, good job! Now, I know you're beat, but try your new attack. Shadow bolt at ¼ power!"

"Shadow bolt?" Misty yelped in confusion from the sidelines.

"What kind of attack is that?" Brock moaned.

Ash answered both questions by simply saying. "Just wait and see."

Haunter took in a deep breath of air and prepared for its most powerful attack. Turning into a ray of pure shadow, Haunter flew towards its opponent and entered its head. The lizard-creature screamed in agony as black swirls raced around its head. Ash started to get worried at the degree of pain on the pokemon's face. "Haunter! I said ¼ power! Don't kill it, just knock it out!"

"You mean that shadow bolt can kill a pokemon!" Misty gasped in horror. She never knew that such powerful attacks existed.

Ash nodded. "Yes, but only at full power."

The pokemon continued to yelp in pain until the attack finally stopped. The black shadow that was previously circling Rhydon's head formed back into Haunter. Rhydon hit the floor, and to everyone's relief, it was still breathing. "Oh, are you ok, Rhydon?" Brock asked and returned the beast back into its pokeball.

"(Round one goes to Ash.)" Pikachu smiled. Ash grinned while the other two just had blank expressions on their faces.

*~*~*~*~*~*

# Round 2: Ash vs. Misty

"You may have won the last match, AK, but I'm not going to be as easy to beat. Go Staryu!" Misty cried as she released her pokemon. A creature that resembled a star materialized. Five orange arms shot from its body while a beautiful reddish-pink jewel glowed from its center.

"A water type? Interesting. I'll just have to use my newest pokemon, then. Caterpie, I choose you!" A giant caterpillar emerged from the pokeball. Its green body and large eyes were primed for battle. Its sweet appearance, however, was just a cover. This pokemon knew how to inflict some serious damage.

"A Caterpie! A bug pokemon! Get it away from me! Get it away!" Misty screamed in terror as she backed into a nearby wall.

Ash stopped in confusion for a moment. This girl was that afraid of bugs? It was so strangely familiar. It couldn't be… no, she was long gone now. "What! Backing out of a match so quickly? Why are you so afraid of Caterpies? The first pokemon I ever caught was a Caterpie!"

"Bugs… I hate them! There are three things that I hate the most in life: carrots, peppers and bugs!" Misty screamed.

"WHAT!" Ash gasped in surprise. Now he knew exactly one person who hated all those things… it couldn't be… but it was too much of a coincidence. "Misty?" He then turned to Brock. "And Brock?"

"Yea, how did you know our names?" Brock exclaimed in confusion.

Misty stopped her shrieking and turned to face Ash. "Do we know you?"

Ash dropped to his knees and started rambling. "Misty… Brock… alive? No, it couldn't be! You two are supposed to be dead! Dead! This is impossible! How? Why? Why didn't I know about this? It would have changed everything! I would have never run away in the first place! No! You guys are supposed to be dead! You are supposed to be… dead."

Pikachu hit the ground, headfirst. Misty and Brock? After all these years! They survived the shots! They're still alive? He then turned back to Ash, who was literally going crazy. Pikachu, after getting over his initial shock, raced over to Ash's side. "(Ash, are you ok?)"

"Do I look ok, Pikachu? Everything… six years… gone to waste and fate tortures me by showing me them once more!" Ash sobbed.

Misty and Brock were horrified by AK's actions. How did he know them? What was going on? Misty recalled Staryu and walked over to AK. "AK, are you alright?"

"AK… oh yea, that stupid nickname." Ash groaned as he returned Caterpie back to its pokeball. For some reason, Professor Oak flashed threw his mind. If they were still alive, Professor Oak would have sent them on that dangerous mission he told him about. "Were you two sent by Professor Oak? Are you guys the Rebels?"

Misty gasped in surprise. "You mean, you're our source? You sent us those papers? Then that must mean…"

"… yea, I'm one of those arrogant morons from the Elite group." Ash whispered.

"AK, can you come with us then? We could really use an expert pokemon trainer like yourself." Brock gently spoke and stretched out an arm in order to pull Ash to his feet.

"Expert pokemon trainer? More like expert criminal… and why do you keep calling me AK?" Ash moaned, forgetting that he always used that nickname now, in order to hide his true identity. He then stood on his legs, with the help of Brock.

"Because, that's what you told us to call you." Misty answered the seemingly rhetorical question.

"My name isn't AK, it's A…" Ash's voice trailed off when he heard something outside. In a deadly quiet voice, Ash murmured. "Be quiet. Someone's outside." He then tiptoed over to one of the cracks in the wall and peered through it. After a moment, he turned around, his face, deadly white. "Oh my God! The sharpshooters are here! You guys have to get out of here!" Ash then raced to the middle of the room and placed his fingers on the ground. "It's around here… somewhere… yes! They didn't seal it off!" Ash motioned the others to come to his side, which they did. They saw a trapdoor on the floor that Ash had apparently opened.

"A trapdoor?" Misty inquired.

Ash nodded. "Yes, its an underground tunnel that leads into the Viridian Forest, just a little ways away from the city. Quickly, you guys have to go through it!"

"Aren't you coming with us?" Brock asked.

Ash shook his head. "No, they won't kill me; they'll kill you two, though."

"But, we need you to join our group!" Misty whined as Brock plunged into the tunnel. The footsteps started getting louder outside.

Ash smiled. "Don't worry, I'll find you again." Misty now jumped into the tunnel and Ash added. "Misty, Brock, be careful of the Stellar microbe. It's far deadly than you'll ever know." With that, Ash closed the trapdoor. Utter darkness reigned once again.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash hurriedly put on his wristband and glanced once more back at the tunnel entrance, double-checking that it was closed. It was not a moment too soon, for a group of ten devious looking men entered the building and surrounded Ash with guns. "Don't you know a fellow Rocket when you see one?" Ash flashed his wristband at the group and they immediately relaxed.

"So, you must be AK. I've never met an Elite Rocket before." The leader of the group spoke.

Ash grinned devilishly. "Then you probably have never seen the destruction in the wake of an Elite Rocket." He motioned towards the gaping hole in the wall and the dead man near it.

The leader gasped in surprise. "You mean that you did that all by yourself?"

"Of course, but Pikachu also helped out." Ash picked up his tiny pokemon and placed it on his shoulder where it growled threateningly.

"What happened here?" One of the others inquired.

Ash shrugged. "The usual. Battles and death. The Serpents attacked."

"What!" the ten shouted in astonishment.

The leader shook his head. "But the Boss said that they were going to attack headquarters."

"I guess they never knew that we moved." Ash commented.

"What about the pests meddling with our plans?" someone else asked.

Ash grinned. "They have been dealt with. Like I told the Boss, I work alone."

"Amazing… truly amazing." The leader sighed. He wished that he was that powerful.

"I guess it's time to inform the Boss." Ash stated.

The others nodded in agreement. "Back to headquarters."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"I really hate tunnels." Misty whispered as the two wandered through a dark tunnel that just barely rose above their head. They had been walking for a few minutes in silence, each too shocked to speak.

"Same here." Brock muttered in a soft voice; he was afraid that those people back at the old building could still hear them. Brock continued to walk, not even able to see Misty behind him. Then, he stopped. "Ouch, what did I just hit?" He felt the air around him, like a blind man for a moment. He then found the thing that he had just rammed into. "It's a ladder!"

"Cool. I can't wait to get out of here." Misty called excitedly. 

Brock started scaling the ladder and finally reached the top. "Shoot, it's stuck."

"Can I help?" Misty questioned from below.

"Doubt it. It won't budge." Brock climbed back down.

"Here, let me try." Misty offered and jumped onto the ladder.

Brock shook his head. "No offense Misty, but you? A girl? Not even I could move it! What makes you think that you can?"

Misty steamed with anger. Comments like that just weren't acceptable. "The typical attitude of an ignorant guy. Brock, I never thought that you could say such sexist things like that! Well, these past six years haven't been lost on me. Just watch what a skinny beautiful girl can do that a stupid, egotistical jerk, like yourself, couldn't do."

Brock growled in rage. He really had been kind of snappy, but Misty didn't have to shove it down his throat. He was just tired, that's all.

Misty reached the top and tried her own strength. Like Brock said, it was tightly sealed. A pitiful expression spread across her face as she started to descend back to the ground. However, she stopped as a cool idea entered her brain. Misty pushed the release button on one of her pokeballs and a red light swirled in the air just above her. It soon formed Staryu, one of her favorite pokemon. The star creature landed on Misty's outstretched arm, waiting for its next command. "Staryu, tackle attack that trapdoor!"

Staryu replied with an energetic nod and positioned itself for attack. It jumped off of Misty's arm and spun through the air until it reached its destination. Staryu's powerful tackle unsealed the entrance and the door that was blocking it flew into the air and landed nearby. Sunlight poured into the tunnel, blinding both Brock and Misty in the process. When she finally got adjusted to the strong burst of light, Misty crawled up the ladder and into a forest. Shrubs, trees and other vegetation surrounded her. Misty smiled at the scene and glanced back at the tunnel, after recalling Staryu back into its pokeball. "Brock, never underestimate the power of a woman."

Brock climbed out of the deep hole and grinned back at her. "Trust me, I won't." After regaining his senses, Brock asked. "Ok, do you have any idea of what just happened back there?"

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. AK has a lot of explaining to do."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Gary restlessly paced along the sidewalk. They should have come back… one hour was already gone. Now, he and Giselle had been waiting for 15 minutes. Waiting… for _them to show up._

"Gary, look!" Giselle called and pointed in the distance. Two figures, one a boy and the other a girl was running towards them. When they finally reached the police station where Gary and Giselle were waiting, it was clear that it was Brock and Misty… out of breath. "What took you guys so long?"

"Yea, we've been waiting here for a ¼ of an hour!" Gary shouted angrily.

Misty, who still was tired, huffed. "We… we're… so… sorry."

"I guess it's ok." Giselle said. She then regained her usual smug attitude and added. "We have quite a story to tell you two."

"What happened?" Brock asked.

"Well, we just managed to save a Pokemon Center from a new disease that hit a ton of the pokemon there. It's the same one that Professor Oak told us about." Gary grinned.

Misty turned to face him, now relaxed and breathing with ease. "The disease hit the Pokemon Center? How did you stop it? What exactly were the symptoms of the disease? Are you sure that it was the disease that we're looking for and not some other freaky disease?"

Giselle sighed. "We are quite positive that this was the disease. Remember, Prof. Oak told us that pokemon turned incredibly aggressive when inflicted with it. These were the same symptoms of the pokemon at the Center. Anyway, Gary here with his brilliant idea about putting all the diseased pokemon in their pokeballs, really saved the day."

Gary smiled. "Well, Giselle, you were the one who grabbed that microphone and calmed down all the trainers and managed to get the place under control."

Giselle shook her head. "No, you were the big hero."

"No, you were." Gary playfully argued back.

Brock and Misty groaned at the cute scene. Were they going to have to put up with this throughout the whole trip?

Gary noticed the expressions on Brock and Misty's faces and immediately stopped it. "We didn't learn much, though. Basically, everything that the professor said was true; this bacteria affects the brain and makes the pokemon aggressive enough to attack their trainers and other pokemon. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a sample of the deadly bacteria."

"Why not?" Misty and Brock both questioned.

"Well, when we placed the contaminated pokemon in cages, in order to study them without getting hurt, they died about 10 minutes later, all 20 of them." Gary answered as a tear slipped down his cheek. "We couldn't do a single thing to save them."

"Yea, that part was horrible. Then, when we tried to gain a sample, other people came in and took away the bodies. They were saying that this was some sort of health crisis and that everyone should evacuate the building until further testing could be done. They won't even let us near the Pokemon Center now." Giselle moaned.

Brock and Misty both lowered their heads, as a silent moment for the unfortunate pokemon that were lost today, passed. They then told their story, about visiting the old headquarters, battling AK, the strange things that he told them, and finally walking through a hidden tunnel and emerging into the Viridian Forest.

"Wow! You guys had quite an adventure!" Gary exclaimed. In a slightly bored tone, he asked. "Well, what should we do now?"

"I think that we should try to find this AK person." Giselle declared.

Misty shook her head. "Impossible. We don't even know where to look for him. Also, he said that he'd find us."

Brock soon spoke in a sheepish voice. "How about we call Prof. Oak and Joe back in Pallet and tell them what's been going on so far?"

"That's a great idea!" The others chanted and they soon started wandering around the city looking for a free videophone.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, AK is our source?" Joe asked after listening through two long stories told by his friends. Prof. Oak took a deep breath, trying to process all the information that they had gathered for him.

"Yep, but we don't know one thing about him. He seems to know Misty and Brock, from his reactions towards them." Gary commented. He then stopped for a moment, in deep thought, and added. "Joe, can you do us a favor? Can you break into Team Rocket's computer system and access some information on this AK person?"

"Come on, Gary! Challenge me! I'll do it right now. Stay on the line." Joe ordered and started busily typing on a computer back in Pallet. The other four waited patiently, watching him work over the videophone. They were all hoping that this would work. "Ok, I'm in!"

"How did you get in so fast, Joe?" Prof. Oak questioned and stepped up to examine the computer screen.

Joe smiled. "Easy, I simply went to their web page. They, of course, had a password system, so I just used my Codebreaker program to break it, which I designed myself."

Prof. Oak then looked at his watch. "Oh shoot! I have to leave! Tell me what happens when I come back Joe." Without even waiting for a response, he hurriedly left the room.

Back in Viridian, Giselle eagerly spoke. "So, what have you found so far?"

Joe quickly eyeballed the page and after a few clicks, he slammed his fist into a nearby desk. "Shoot. They're requesting another password and my program isn't working. They must have set up a really high-tech security system. I'm afraid we're stuck. I can't get in without the password."

"Gosh, this guy must be really important." Giselle whispered. "Should we try to guess what the password is?"

Joe nodded. "I think that's our only choice."

"How about Giovanni, Team Rocket's boss?" Brock suggested.

A few anxious moments of typing passed until Joe shook his head. "It doesn't work."

"Try pokemon." Gary shouted.

"Or stealing." Giselle yelled.

"What about criminal?" Brock called.

"Nope, nope and nope. None of those work." Joe remarked sadly.

Misty, who had remained quiet all this time, spoke. "AK mentioned the word 'Stellar'. Does that work?"

Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Stellar? That's a weird word to use as a password, but it's worth a shot. Let's see… S… t… e… l… l… a… r." Joe remained silent for a moment and shouted in glee. "Cool! It works! It works!"

"Good work Joe." Brock grinned and then turned to Misty. "And nice thinking Misty."

Misty blushed. "It was a wild guess."

"But a good one!" Gary exclaimed and then focused in on the screen. "Joe, have you found it yet?"

"Hold on! Hold on! Ok… member profiles… Elite members… there are only four Elite members?" Joe stopped in confusion and then turned back to the computer screen. "I would have thought that there were at least a dozen. Ok, here it is, AK." Joe skimmed the information for a moment then continued. "It says that he joined when he was 15, born it Pallet… ok, we don't need to know all of that… let's see… he was a rookie for years… he was even considered an outcast in Team Rocket? That's weird!"

"Why was he considered an outcast?" Gary questioned.

Joe continued to read and finally turned back to the group. "It appears that he was very stubborn and wouldn't steal pokemon from innocent people."

"That doesn't sound like a criminal!" Misty gasped.

"Why would he want to join Team Rocket in the first place?" Brock asked

Joe sighed. "It doesn't say. Interesting… it does say that even when he was assigned to missions to pilfer pokemon, he never stole a single pokemon in his life."

"Then how did he reach Elite status?" Giselle inquired.

"Ok… before he became an Elite member, he was a Rocket scientist… rather good one by the looks of it… oh, here it is. He became an Elite member during something called the Serpent raid. Because of his amazing training and self-defense abilities, AK wiped out a whole army. It then talks about how he killed hundreds more people, all in this group called the Serpents." Joe explained.

Misty shivered at the gruesome thought. "So this guy is a murderer? He really didn't seem like that to me."

Joe shook his head. "No, I don't think that he's a murderer. I think that it was in self-defense… It also says that he has very powerful pokemon, including a Pikachu which he almost never puts in a pokeball…"

"Well, that's true." Brock sighed.

Joe continued. "It appears that AK isn't his real name, but they don't say what his real name is."

"Drat. If we knew that, then, maybe we could figure out how this guy knows us." Misty groaned.

Joe then smiled. "They have two pictures of him. One is a recent photo while the other was taken when he first joined. I'll fax the pictures to you. Here is the recent photo. The other one is still downloading."

A nearby fax machine buzzed with life and started printing. The four watched the picture form and stared at it for a few moments. "Well, that's definitely him." Brock stated, after it had printed while Misty simply nodded her head in agreement.

"Ok, the next pic… Oh my God! This has to be a mistake! There is no way…" Joe's voice trailed off as an expression of utter surprise was painted on his face.

"Joe, are you ok?" Gary asked and walked over to the screen along with Brock and Giselle.

Joe turned to face them, his face now a pale white. "You guys are not going to believe this next picture."

Misty cocked her head in confusion. "Why?"

Joe gulped and spoke in a raspy voice. "See for yourself." He then turned around and started to fax it to them.

The fax machine started printing once again. Misty held her breath when she grabbed the printed document from the machine. Misty gasped in astonishment. "It can't be… it can't be…"

"Who is it?" Brock gently asked.

Misty looked at the rest of the group while shivering uncontrollably. In a soft whisper, Misty spoke. "It's… Ash."

Like it? Hate it? If you have any opinions on it what so ever, then please review. Last time I only got 2 reviews L and over 100 people read it! That's not right people! Come on…. Just say something small for a review and I'll be very happy! The more reviews I get, the faster I post the next part, which is really good! Bye then!


	3. Chapter 2: The Mission

A/N: Well, here's my second fic. I want to thank everyone that reviewed my last chapter! You all are so nice! You all really made this author's day! It was so pleasant coming home from such a stressful week and reading all these great reviews! However, I did notice that a lot of people had questions about my story. Actually, that's what I was counting on. There are going to be certain parts of my stories where you might get slightly confused, but don't worry. They should all be answered at the end of my series. Also, another comment. Many people have been asking when I'm going to bring Jessie, James and Meowth into the story. It took me a while, but I've finally figured out a way to place them into the story. At least one of these 3 will be in my 4th chapter; I'm almost positive on that. So, all of you Jessie, James and Meowth fans, sorry about that.

Disclaimer: What? You mean that you didn't think that that I own pokemon? You mean that you actually think that Satoshi and those other companies own pokemon? Well, if you think that then you are 100% correct, so, um… no suing me, got it? Besides, if I owned pokemon, we'd be watching a continuous AAMR show.J

A Second Chance

Chapter 2: The Mission

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash Ketchum… AK… why didn't I see it before?

Misty groaned at her own stupidity. She should have seen it. Who else would own a Pikachu and not carry it in a pokeball? Who else would have caught a Caterpie as their very first pokemon? Who else would have known both herself and Brock so well? Only Ash… and she never did see it.

But what happened to him? Why would he join Team Rocket? Team Rocket always was his enemy, considering how many times they tried to steal Pikachu from him. Yet, she couldn't deny the fact… Ash was in Team Rocket now… an Elite member at that. He has changed so much… there was no determination that sparkled in his eyes, no silly attitude echoed from his face, no immature manner dawned his personality. It couldn't be Ash… it just couldn't be.

Yet, he still had the same compassion for his pokemon. He still kept the same principles of never stealing or hurting pokemon. He still had that same lust for battle. Unbelievable… Ash grew up, but into what? He didn't seem happy like he was all those years ago. There was something almost frighteningly sad about him that she saw back in that old building. Perhaps he needed something. Perhaps he needed a friend. Perhaps he needed the Rebels as much as the Rebels needed him…

"Misty are you ok?" Brock asked, noticing the blank expression on Misty's face.

Misty snapped out of her thoughts and glanced around in confusion. "Huh? What?" Remembering Brock's question, she added. "I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all.

Brock smiled knowingly. "About Ash, right?"

Misty nodded slowly. "Yes."

"It's incredible, isn't it? Talk about coincidence!" Brock exclaimed. "He really has changed."

"No kidding." Misty remarked. "But, something doesn't seem right about him. Didn't you notice that he looked sad, like he wanted something that he couldn't have."

Brock shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I never really examined him that closely back there." Brock then placed a gentle hand on Misty's shoulder. "Come on Misty, let's catch up with the others."

Misty looked ahead and noticed that they were falling behind Gary and Giselle, who were looking for a hotel to spend the night in. "I guess so." Misty and Brock then dashed ahead to catch up to their companions.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"What a day!" Brock exclaimed as his head hit the pillow. In this comfortable position, in a bed, Brock's mind wandered to the previous events of the day. It had all started out normal. A couple of battles here and there, nothing unusual, but it ended with a new journey, a new destiny and the reunion of his best friends… well, sort of. Will tomorrow be as crazy?

"Gee, ya think so, Brock?" Gary snickered sarcastically and also collapsed into his bed. What worried him the most was this disease. What makes the victims so aggressive? How does this damn bacteria control the victim's behavior? I wish I had studied more about the brain back in medical school, but how was I to know that I'd be faced with a life-threatening disease that may soon spread as an epidemic? Maybe AK… I mean Ash knows.

And that's another thing. How does Ash fit into all of this? Wasn't he dead by now? Gary smiled and immediately pushed that thought aside. Even as a kid, Ash always had the weirdest luck. Well, at least he's working for our side now… hopefully.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"I wonder if I can get any sleep tonight." Giselle sighed and lifted the covers. She and Misty were sleeping in the room right next to Brock and Gary. She then slipped off her high heels, making a mental note to herself to wear her tennis shoes tomorrow.

"Me too." Misty closed her eyes, hoping to see a beautiful dream that would make her smile. But all she saw was blackness… nothing but the dark. She tried her very best to get some shuteye, but she couldn't. Misty tossed and turned from one side of the bed to the other. She then opened her eyes abruptly. "Giselle, are you awake?"

"Not really." Giselle groaned and rolled out of her relaxed position. She then forced her eyes open and glazed at Misty. "What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep." Misty simply stated and rolled out of her bed. "I'm going to go get something to eat."

Giselle yawned. "Misty… there's no food in the room."

"Fine, I'll go downstairs then." Misty declared and hurriedly placed on some decent clothes. She walked out of the room and set her ear next to Brock and Gary's door. Snoring… they must be asleep. She then backed away from the door and crashed into something.

"Oh, I'm sorry." A guy's voice sounded from underneath her. 

Misty jumped to her feet and helped the guy up. The hall was so dark; she couldn't even see this guy's face. "Yea, sorry about that." Misty then stared at the dark figure she had tripped and gasped in surprise. "Gary, is that you?"

"Misty? What are you doing?" Gary called.

"I was getting a snack. You?" Misty questioned.

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't sleep. Do you mind if I come with you?"

Misty nodded. "Sure. I doubt that I can get any rest tonight. Do you know where they would keep some midnight snacks?"

Gary shook his head. "Sorry, but we'll just wander around. They have to be somewhere around here."

"Yea." Misty started walking further down the hall, followed by Gary.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You would think that this hotel would at least have a snack at night." Misty remarked. The pair had been wandering for quite some time but with no luck.

"I know what you mean. There isn't even a person around that we can ask." Gary moaned as he glanced around. The lobby was completely empty, besides the two of them. "Do you want to go get something from a nearby store?"

Misty sighed. "I guess."

Misty and Gary exited the hotel and glimpsed ahead. They were situated on a street where the moon was their only source of light. For two blocks, the duo walked in silence with the dark as their only companion. It was like they were the only two people alive in the world.

However, this idea quickly disappeared when the quiet pair spotted two men in the distance. They were draped in thick brown coats. Misty and Gary were about to say a friendly greeting until they heard them whisper. "I say that we should break into Team Rocket's headquarters tonight."

At this statement, they quickly hid behind a trash dumpster and strained to listen to more of the conversation. "No, the others aren't ready yet."

"So what? We can easily beat them and destroy the building! Why do we need the rest of the Serpents?" One of the men pleaded. He was slightly shorter than the other one and had light brown hair that trickled from his head.

The other man looked down at him. He seemed much older and wiser than his companion. His rich and neatly combed black hair blended into the night. "We need the Serpents. Would you like to face the Elite members and Giovanni all by yourself? You know what they can do."

The brown-haired man nodded reluctantly. "Ok, you have a point, but I still say we should do it tonight and catch them off-guard. Headquarters was hard enough to find and we ought to finish this assignment as soon as possible."

The older man grinned at his younger companion. "Eager, aren't we? Save your eagerness for tomorrow, when we blow up the lab, and kill the top members."

Misty and Gary gasped. Who were the Serpents? Why would they want to destroy Team Rocket's headquarters and kill all the top members? Misty nudged Gary in the shoulder. "They want to destroy Ash."

Gary nodded and whispered. "Yea. Ash needs to know about this."

"But how? We don't even know where to look for him?" Misty murmured.

Gary opened his month and was about to say something when the two men started talking once again. "How are we going to kill them, anyway? They are so powerful!" The younger man exclaimed.

"They are still human… all humans can die by a gunshot." The black-haired man stated.

"So, when will we attack?" The younger one questioned.

"I'll inform the others of our plans. We'll attack in the early morning, when they're all still asleep in bed." The older man commented.

"And what will I be doing in the meantime?" The younger one asked.

The older man smiled wickedly. "You will be on stakeout by their hideout and inform us by radio if any complications in our plan occurs. Be sure to find a good lookout spot for the night."

The younger man groaned. "Great. Thanks." After a moment of silence, he added. "What if I run into any Rocket agents?"

The older, black-haired man was starting to walk away, turned around at this question. "You have pokemon, use them." With that, he disappeared into the night.

The younger lad was left all by himself and grumbled. "Sure, stick me with the boring job." He then walked past Misty and Gary, but he was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he never noticed them. When he was out of sight, Misty and Gary emerged from their hiding spots.

"Well, that was close." Gary remarked, keeping a close eye on the retreating figure.

"No kidding." Misty whispered. "Let's follow that guy to headquarters. We have to warn Ash. He could be in danger."

"Misty, Ash has survived six cruel years without our help. I'm sure that he can survive a few more hours." Gary sighed.

Misty turned to her companion, anger flashing in her eyes. "What! You mean that you're just going to let them kill Ash!"

Gary shook his head. "Misty, calm down! They might still be in listening range." After seeing Misty relax, Gary added. "No, I just meant that we shouldn't follow him. The others will get worried about us and we can't risk getting separated from our group at this moment."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Misty questioned.

Gary cupped a pokeball in his hand and smiled back at Misty. "You're not the only one with pokemon. Go Fearow!" A giant orange bird materialized. Its long beak and tiny head made it appear dense and even stupid but its impressive wingspan and massive body gave it a terrifying and malicious appearance. "Fearow, follow that man over there, but make sure that he doesn't see you. He should lead you to an immense building in the forest. Come back when you spot that building."

Fearow jumped into the air and issued a battle cry into the night sky. It then set out on its appointed task and searched for the dark figure. Misty grinned back at Gary. "Nice thinking. Are you going to wait here until Fearow returns?"

Gary shook his head. "No, my Fearow is smart enough to find me in the morning. This isn't the first time that I've asked him to perform tasks like this." He then glanced back at Misty. "I think that we should get some sleep while we can. It's already late."

Misty nodded. "Yep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash sighed. This was starting to get annoying. He must have been sitting in this horrible position for 15 minutes and yet those guards still won't move. The last thing he wanted was to fight these guards and have them blab to Giovanni that he was a traitor. But he couldn't stay like this forever.

Pikachu started getting restless. He wanted desperately to zap those guards and go into that room that they were defending. There was only one problem… Ash. He just had to specifically order him not to do that and just wait… wait till the end of time, probably.

"(Ash, why don't you use one of your other pokemon as a distraction?)" Pikachu suggested.

Ash grinned at the thought. "That's a great idea, Pikachu!" He then quickly enlarged a pokeball from his belt and released the pokemon it contained. A giant Beedrill jumped out. This super-sized version of a bee contained three menacing stingers, two on its forearms and an immense one on its tail. The pokemon hovered in the air, waiting for Ash's next command. "Beedrill, serve as a distraction to those guards by using your fury attack on them."

Beedrill flapped its wings even harder and approached the two goofy-looking guards on patrol. "Hey, what's that?" The first guard shouted in terror, pointing in Beedrill's direction.

"A Beedrill? How did it get in here?" The second guard questioned.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly." The first guard remarked. He didn't know how right he was. Beedrill started using its fury attack on the two, jabbing them with its deadly weapons on its forearms and tail. The two guards screamed in panic and raced down the hall.

Ash smiled and emerged from his hiding spot, along with Pikachu. "Great job, Beedrill." He then recalled the bee pokemon to its pokeball and placed it back on his belt. "Ok, now comes the hard part." Ash remarked when he saw the high-tech security system that was situated the door.

"(Do you remember the password?)" Pikachu asked.

Ash pondered this for a moment. "Let's see… I think so." He then typed a few things into a small keyboard panel and tried the door handle… locked. "Shoot! That's not right! Maybe, it was this." He then typed another set into the keyboard panel and tried the door handle… unlocked. "Yes! We're in!"

The two entered the room. The place looked like a laboratory filled with test tubes, beakers, and Bunsen burners. In addition, there appeared to be other strange things like guns, computers and a safe. Ash marched up to the safe and groaned. He didn't know what the password was this time.

Pikachu tried its luck with the safe by jumping on top of it and pressing the buttons. Unfortunately, Pikachu's luck decided to take a break today.

"I guess I'll have to resort to old fashioned methods." Ash commented and pulled out a sword that was hidden under his black cloak. The sword sparkled in the light and the golden handle rested comfortably in Ash's hand.

Pikachu watched the golden weapon of destruction jump to Ash's hands and yawned. The sight didn't interest Pikachu that much; he had seen it too many times before. Ash swings a sword, slits anything in its path… wait a second, what is he doing? There isn't any need for the sword; it wasn't like there were any enemies in the room. Hold it… why was Ash staring at him? Why was he raising his sword at him? What is he doing? Is he going crazy? Is Ash trying to kill him? Oh no… "(AAAAASSSSSSHHHHH!!!!)"

The door of the safe split open while the metal hinges dropped to the floor. Ash smiled at his accuracy then noticed Pikachu's horrified expression. "Oh, sorry Pikachu. Didn't see you up there. Are you ok? You didn't think that I was actually going to hurt you, did you?"

"(N… no. Of… co….urse…. n… not.)" Pikachu trembled. He then regained his composer and added. "(After all, anyone can get Stellar.)"

Ash laughed. "Stellar? You thought that I was actually afflicted with that? You know that symptoms for the disease as well as I do." He then turned this attention back to the safe. Inside were dozens of black boxes that were neatly stacked with one on top of the other. Ash grabbed one of the boxes and smiled. "We have what we came for. Now, we'll just dispose of the rest of these and be on our way."

"(Ok, then let's get to work.)" Pikachu stated and grasped some of the boxes in his paws. Noticing the blank expression on Ash's face, Pikachu questioned. "(You ok?)"

Ash glanced again at the small box in his hands. "Yea, I was just thinking. That's all."

Pikachu glanced at him curiously. "(What about?)"

"This bacteria… I don't get it. How come it makes some people go crazy while others aren't even affected in the least bit." Ash sighed and then continued. "It almost seems like someone is controlling this thing; as if someone is working behind the scenes."

Pikachu shook his head. Ash could get so paranoid at times. "(Controlling a disease? Working behind the scenes? I think that you've been watching too many X-files episodes.)"

Ash smiled at the silly joke but still couldn't shake off the feeling. Something was going to happen… something he wasn't going to like one bit.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, it's about time!" Gary huffed angrily in the early morning fog. An enormous orange bird bowed its head down in slight regret. It hated making its master mad. "Why did it take you so long to get back here? We need to know where headquarters is! A life hangs in the balance!" In a softer tone, Gary asked. "Well, did you find it at least?"

The massive bird, Fearow, nodded. "(Yes. It's located about 4 ½ miles from here.)"

Gary, of course, couldn't understand this, but gathered that Fearow had found it. "Good. Here, why don't you get some rest for a few minutes? The others haven't even woken up." The bird soon returned back to its home.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"What's the matter, Gary? What's with the hurry?" Brock yawned and tried to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes with no success.

Gary didn't even listen to Brock and asked. "Is Misty and Giselle up?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know? You just woke me up about 5 minutes ago! Would you mind telling me why you are in a hurry?"

Gary stopped his activities. "Fair enough. Well, Misty and I took an evening walk together last night. We were talking and then we saw…"

"What does this have to do with waking me up so earlier?" Brock interrupted as a yawn escaped from his lips.

Gary moaned. "Stop interrupting! I was about to say that we saw these two guys talking about bombing Team Rocket's headquarters and killing their top agents!"

Brock blinked his eyes, trying to interpret what Gary had just said. "Oh… oh! You mean they are trying to kill Ash? Who were they? Why were they doing this? When are they doing this? Did you find Team Rocket's headquarters? Is that where we're going now?"

Gary groaned in confusion. "… Too many questions. Look, all we found out was that these two people are planning this raid early in the morning today and that they belong to a group called the Serpents. My Fearow followed one of them and found headquarters."

Brock grinned. "Nice thinking. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get Misty and Giselle and visit headquarters."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Pikachu, it's time." Ash firmly stated after pacing for what seemed like hours. "We have to do it, now."

Pikachu nodded. "(It's about time. You've already delayed it for way too long.)"

Ash sighed. "Indeed. I've been hiding here, thinking that I'll do it tomorrow. It would be a suicide mission, you do know that, right?"

"(But, it's the only way.)" Pikachu added.

"Still, there has to be another way…" Ash's voice trailed off. After a brief moment, he turned to face Pikachu. "If it doesn't work, then we're all goners. There is no second chance."

"(But if it does work, then we can help rid the world of Stellar. We have to do it, Ash! We have to make sure that the Rockets and the Serpents alike can't hurt others and the only way to do so is to go on with the plan.)" Pikachu jumped into Ash's outstretched arms.

Ash involuntarily shivered at the thought. Pikachu had hit a nerve. "Ok, I guess you're right. I'll do it. As long as I can end all of this, I'll do it. Even if it means risking my own life…"

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Gary, are you sure that this Fearow isn't leading us in circles?" Giselle asked as she brushed a tree branch out of the way. They had been traveling for a while now causing Giselle to whine more than usual.

"Are you going to whine every time we take a hike?" Misty groaned. She just had to be walking right next to the most annoying girl in the world… make that the universe.

"(Over there! It's right over there!)" Fearow howled excitedly and started flying faster.

"I think we're getting close!" Gary exclaimed as he jumped into the lead, pushing Brock and Misty out of the way.

"Calm down Gary!" Brock ordered and tried to catch up with the fleeting figure, followed by Misty and Giselle. "Gary? Where did you go? Ga…" Brock's voice trailed off as he stopped dead in his tracks. He stood on a cliff, overlooking a vast green valley below. In the mist of it stood a tall building that soared above the treetops. Surrounding the building was a great black mass that smeared the otherwise peaceful nature of the area. As Brock examined it closer, he was amazed to find that this black glob was really hundreds, perhaps thousands of people fighting like rabid animals. 

"I guess we are late." Gary declared as he recalled Fearow. He was standing only a few feet away from Brock, and just continued to watch the vicious fight take place below.

"So, what's the plan?" Misty questioned as she and Giselle entered the scene.

After a few brief moments of curious viewing, Giselle asked. "Who's fighting? And why are they fighting? It's like World War III is going on down there!"

"I think we missed a lot." Misty commented.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash's brain raced as he walked down the hall. Leaving Team Rocket… quitting… it sounded so easy back in the room, now it seemed like a nightmare. Rockets never quit; they were killed. He passed by Rocket after Rocket; people whom he once considered as allies. In a few short minutes, they will be his eternal enemies, that is, if he even survives long enough for that.

Pikachu crackled threateningly. Today was finally the today. Ash was finally going to leave this horrid deathtrap. Why didn't he do it before? Oh yea… Ash met _her. That little vixen… if Ash hadn't met her, he would have probably had left Team Rocket within the first week. At least now she wasn't around anymore and couldn't interfere with this plan.True, everyone who had tried this plan before never survived, but it was the only way._

However, an unexpected twist in the plan arose. A battle cry bounced through the air and invaded their thoughts. The two stopped in total confusion for a moment. Ash soon regained his senses and quickly rushed down hallway after hallway until he reached a small window barely larger than a computer screen. A swarm of troops were surrounding the building and attacking any Rocket member that they could get their hands on.

"A raid? Now?" Ash questioned, watching the bloodshed below.

"(Those snakes? Attacking now? I didn't think that they would be stupid enough to try again so soon!)" Pikachu exclaimed as he peered down at the scene.

"I know what you mean. Oh no!" Ash yelled and pointed below. "See? They are gaining ground! We have to get out of here!"

Pikachu strained his eyes and could barely made out what Ash was talking about. "(You're right, but I still don't get it! How come the Rockets can't keep them at bay? They did so in the past!)"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? The Rockets are probably weaker than before. But, with this raid in progress, we can easily sneak out!"

"(Good! It'll take them longer to figure out that we quit.)" Pikachu grinned in glee.

Ash nodded. "Then we have to find Misty, Brock and the rest of the Rebels. They'll probably be in Viridian. Let's get out of here!" The pair soon rushed away from the window.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, now what are we supposed to do?" Misty inquired, growing even more bored by the minute.

Brock shook his head. "Um… we could try to sneak past them."

Giselle groaned. "Yea, and get our heads chopped off."

"Even I have to admit, that does seem like the best course of action. We need to obtain samples of this bacteria and find Ash." Gary sighed.

"We should probably use a distraction." Giselle stated monotonously.

Gary rolled his eyes. "Gee, that's original."

Giselle growled. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Misty grew uncomfortable at the scene. It felt so weird watching a fight rather than being in one, which she usually was. She looked over at Brock, who simply ignored the scene, as if he had seen it hundreds of times before, which he has. Misty sighed. "Guys, chill out. We need to focus on our task."

Brock smiled significantly at Misty's statement. She literally took the words right out of his mouth. "Yea, a distraction was a good idea, anyway. Does anyone have any pokemon that could help us out here?"

Misty twisted in Brock's direction and turned deadly white. "Um… Brock…"

Brock glazed at Misty, confused by her sudden mood swing. Not even girls change moods that quickly. Something was wrong. "Misty, are you ok?"

Gary and Giselle noticed this strange conversation and faced Brock. Each of their faces shirked in horror. "Brock…."

By now Brock was getting worried. Something was definitely wrong. Seriously wrong. "Is there something behind me?" A dazed nod came from each of them as Brock slowly turned around. There, he came face-to-face with a dozen soldiers, all armed with guns. "We're in trouble."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Pikachu, is the coast clear?" Ash glanced around him like he was being hunted.

After a moment of gazing around outside and cautiously peering in the distance, Pikachu nodded. "(Yea. Let's go. No one's in sight.)"

Ash started walking out of the room and onto the grassy plane. Only a few more steps to freedom… the hard part was over… he was home free. "AK! What are you doing there?" A voice echoed within the building that Ash had barely taken two steps away from.

"Um… helping out the others… yea, that's right." Ash hastily responded while mentally kicking himself for not getting away sooner.

The man nodded. He was obviously a Rocket agent. "Well, the Boss wants to see you. It appears that he has a job for you."

"A job? Now? But I'm needed out there!" Ash shouted, hoping that this futile argument would work. It didn't.

"Sorry, AK, but you know the rules." The man sighed, talking to Ash like he was a mere child.

Ash groaned. There was no way he could get out of this. "Fine, let's go. Boss' office, right?"

The man shook his head. "Nope, the Execution Room."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Giselle blinked and opened her exquisite eyes. The room was incredibly dark and she couldn't even see her feet or her hands… wait a second… handcuffs? How did she get handcuffs on her hands? And why does her head hurt? Where was she? What was going on?

"Giselle, are you awake?" Misty asked. She edged closer and tapped her with one of her feet.

At first Giselle was startled; her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness. But, when they did, she could see that Misty was sitting right next to her with a concerned look in her eyes. "Yea, Misty, I'm fine, just a little confused."

Misty nodded sympathetically. "Aren't we all?"

Giselle turned to face Misty. "Misty, what's going on?"

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. I just woke up a few minutes ago myself. It appears that we are in a jail cell. Brock and Gary woke up before me and are over there discussing a plan to get out of here."

Giselle groaned. "Any luck?"

"Nope." By now, Gary and Brock both crawled over to the girls.

Giselle sighed in disappointed. Remembering the aching pain all over her body, she whispered. "Did they beat us up?"

Brock looked down at his own body and slowly nodded. "I guess so. All I remember is being clobbered by a club."

Misty smiled. "Same here. It feels weird receiving a concussion rather than giving it."

Gary giggled. "Oh yea, your mallet. With all those years that Brock was pounded by that thing, it's no wonder he woke up first!"

The group laughed at this. However, the moment didn't last. The dreary atmosphere crushed their happiness and hope. Silence drowned the four but it soon ended with the gentle pitter-patter of footsteps. Someone was coming.

"This cell, right?" A husky voice rang through the air.

"Yea. The Boss said cell number 13, two guys and two girls." Another voice echoed from the shadows.

"Ok, you all! Let's get going! Don't make any trouble." The two figures emerged into view, pointing guns at the prisoners in order to clarify their point.

The Rebels rose to their feet and patiently waited for the men to open the door and lead them out of their prison. The journey from their cell to their final destination was a long and anxious one for the group. Each of them was wondering what was going to happen and if they were even going to survive this experience.

Finally, they surfaced into a different area, away from the dreary prisoner cells. Soft light enveloped the scene. After seeing many signs painted in dark red featuring the letter "R", the group knew for a fact that they were inside Team Rocket's Headquarters, the place where they wanted to be in the first place. The little trip ended as one of their the captors opened one of the many doors in the area. 

Inside, was a shady room that was poorly lit from above. The room was very plain, a little too plain. All they could see was guns, bombs and other weapons that were thrown haphazardly along the side of the walls. A bright light soon flashed on, illuminating a darkened corner of the room. There, they could see a luxurious red chair with a devilish man seated upon it.

"These are the prisoners that you requested, Boss." One of the men declared and pointed to the four.

Giovanni grinned slyly. "Ah, yes. The meddling group that was supposed to be taken care of."

The other man reluctantly stepped back. "That was AK's job, sir."

Giselle perked her ears at the familiar name. "AK? You mean…"

Gary quickly silenced her by elbowing her in the stomach and whispering. "Shut up!"

Giovanni gazed curiously at the Rebels before continuing. "Has he been sent for?"

Both of the men nodded. "Yes, he should be coming any minute."

As if on cue, Ash walked into the room, through another door, followed by Pikachu. He didn't even notice his friends trembling a few feet away. Instead, Ash turned to face Giovanni. "What did you want?"

Giovanni smiled malevolently. "AK, I need you to finish up your job." Turning to the other two, he shouted. "And you two many leave." The two Rockets quickly raced out of the room.

Ash's upset attitude changed into a confused one. "What job are you talking about?"

Giovanni pointed to the opposite side of the room. "That one."

Ash stared at the four prisoners and gasped in horror. He immediately recognized Misty and Brock and concluded that Giovanni somehow captured the Rebels. He was in trouble now. Big trouble. "B… but, sir, th… there's a raid going on right outside. Let's delay this and use all available resources to… to help our soldiers battle."

Giovanni shook his head. "No, we are doing this now. That is an order."

Ash's voice faltered and his brain raced in panic. He had to get out of this, somehow. "But… I don't have a weapon with me now." He was lying through his teeth as his fingers brushed against the small sword attached to his belt.

Giovanni pointed to a huge group of pistols, rifles and other types of guns that lay nearby. "Your choice."

"You know how I hate guns." Ash glared, speaking the first words that came out of his mouth. Maybe if he kept this tough guy appearance up, Giovanni would get bored of this game and take his advice.

Giovanni himself threw a sword, not unlike Ash's, to his feet. "There you go."

"How about using my pokemon against them? It won't be so bloody and they can gain some experience points." Ash quickly suggested, desperately hoping that Giovanni would listen to him.

The other four watched the deadly game of cat and mouse. Each was hoping that Ash wouldn't blow it and say something stupid. They were surprised, however, when he didn't. All of his excuses were top-of-the-line and would have gotten him off the hook anywhere else. But, Giovanni was different; nothing got past him… nothing.

"AK, no more excuses. You have your weapon, now, finish your job." Giovanni growled.

Ash definitely stood his ground. He was hoping against hope that a miracle would occur and save him. "I can't kill them! Killing them would be the biggest mistake of all!" Ash shouted, surprised by his own words and the confidence in them.

Giovanni raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Ash searched hard for a good lie and blurted. "For your information, sir, I have been following them for a couple hours. In that short period of time, they have discovered valuable information. They already know about the Serpents. They know all about Team Rocket, and where headquarters is located. They even know all about the microbe. That information is top secret and only a few Rocket and Serpent members know about it, yet I bet they are clever enough to already know the name of the microbe. If you don't believe me, just ask any of them the name of the microbe."

Everyone, including Pikachu, stared in shokc at Ash. Even Ash seemed a little taken back by his own words; they were so powerful. Misty whispered to the other three. "I think it's pretty obvious who wrote that part on the last page of the documents."

Giovanni stuttered for a moment; something he probably has never done in his entire life. "Well, AK, I am certainly surprised at you. Let us see if you are correct." He then turned to the other prisoners. "What is the name of the microbe?"

"Stellar." The four moaned in unison.

Ash sighed in relief. His plan had worked. It was a good thing he told Misty and Brock to 'beware of the Stellar microbe' before he last saw them. "You see, sir. I speak the truth! We don't need to kill them. They know a lot of vital information that could help us in the long run. We really ought to question them further and see what else they know."

Giovanni blinked in disbelief. Ash had proven his point. However, his manipulations weren't going to work on him. "AK, I told you in the beginning that your mission was to kill the meddling group trying to interfere with our plans. You haven't even done that. I rarely ever give second chances in Team Rocket, but I'm making an acceptation just this once. Kill all four of them, now!"

Ash and the others gasped. They thought that Ash's speech would surely at least delay their deaths. Ash bent down to Pikachu and whispered in his ears. "It's time to activate our plan."

Pikachu cocked its head in confusion. Was Ash really going to go through with the plan now? This didn't really seem like an ideal notion considering the fact that Giovanni had taken all of their friends as prisoners.

Ash then turned to Giovanni. "What makes you think that I'll accept your second chance?"

The Rebels stared at Ash in alarm. He was saying that to Giovanni? Even they could grasp just how powerful Giovanni was and… Ash was standing up to him? Was he crazy?

"Are you disobeying my command?" Giovanni roared at Ash, his anger flaring to an unimaginable level.

"What do you think?" Ash defiantly yelled back.

"Do I need to remind you of the consequences of not obeying my commands?" Giovanni threatened, rising from his comfy chair.

"Should I even care?" Ash sarcastically replied.

"Do you want to die or are you just crazy?" Giovanni questioned, amazed at the stupidity that Ash seemed to possess.

Ash snarled. "Is that a threat?"

"Do you have a death wish?" Giovanni warned in a deadly voice.

"Why do you want to know? And why are we talking in questions all of a sudden?" Ash snickered at his own corny joke.

Giovanni howled. "Either you kill them now, or I'll kill you! Your choice!"

By now, Ash was on a roll and couldn't stop. "Or how about option number 3? I quit Team Rocket and never have to listen to your orders again!"

"No one quits Team Rocket! The only way out is with death!" Giovanni barked and shouted into a small microphone. "All Guards! Come to the Execution Room, immediately!"

Over a dozen guards poured into the room. Ash threw two pokeballs in the air. "Zubat, Dugtrio! Come on out!" Two pokemon dived out of their pokeballs. The first, Zubat, was a blind purple bat that hovered in the air. Its eyes were nothing but slits, while menacing teeth blazed from its mouth. "Zubat, use your supersonic attack!"

Zubat did so and a loud ear-deafening, high-pitched sound swept threw the air. The guards, Giovanni and the others covered their ears, while Ash turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, use your flash on them to confuse them." Pikachu did so and a blinding light glowed from his body, making the others in the room unable to see. Ash then turned to the last member of his team. "Dugtrio, dig a hole out of here!"

The pokemon nodded and set to work. The three-headed creature made up of three little brown lumps used the technique it was most famous for: dig. It created a hole in the floor, tossing debris and dirt onto the already confused people. While all this chaos was going on, Ash ran to his friends and led them towards the newly built tunnel, created by Dugtrio.

The group, although tremendously bewildered, still managed to descend into the hole. When everyone was in the tunnel, Ash turned to Zubat. "Good job, Zubat! Now, return!" Ash quickly returned Zubat back to its pokeball while Pikachu stopped its flash and scampered into the tunnel after Ash.

The guards and Giovanni regained their senses a moment later only to find that Ash and his friends had disappeared. Giovanni howled in rage. "Go after them and kill them all!"

Just as the guards were about to plunge into the inky darkness where Ash and the others lay, a door flew open and over a dozen people marched into the room. "Giovanni! It's time to face the wrath of the Serpents. Go, Voltrob! Explosion!" The pokemon hopped out of the ball and concentrated in preparation for its most powerful attack. The guards withdrew their distance from the pokeball look-alike and the hole. A light enveloped Voltrob as the pokemon spread this white light outwards. Like an earthquake, the building rocked furiously as Voltrob exploded into the air. People and pokemon flew unceremoniously out of the building as it shattered into bits.

The Rebels weren't faring well underground. The attack reached them as it spread throughout the tunnel, clogging parts of it with debris. The world soon went pitch-black for our heroes.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Misty's eyes fluttered open. The strong light in the area forced her to close them soon after, but it gave her time to think. What happened? Where was she? These haunting questions compelled her to shift her head in all directions and move her small hands. Grass? She could feel the grass into prickling her back and dancing amid her fingers. Regardless of the strong light, Misty opened her eyes once again and realized that she was on a grassy plain nearby a dirt road.

"So, you're finally awake?" A deep voice called behind her.

Fear and anxiety rushed down her spine as she tried to twist her body to an upright position. Misty immediately regretted doing this, though, for pain shot down all over her sore body.

The person realized her panic and confusion. He gently placed an arm on her shoulder and moved so that she could see him better. "Calm down, Misty."

Misty smiled as she looked up at his face. "Hello AK, or should I say Ash?"

Ash grinned in embarrassed. "So, you guys figured it out?"

Misty shrugged her shoulders… although it was sort of hard to do in her position. "Well, with some help."

"I'm surprised. I would have never guessed that it was you until you listed your dislikes. I probably would have had to have someone tell me your identity or… I don't know, read something about you… like a profile." Ash stated, not noticing the humor in his statement.

Misty sweatdropped and whispered. "Well, actually, we did. Joe, back in Pallet, broke into Team Rocket's profile section and we read yours. However, until we saw that picture of you at 15, none of us figured it out."

"Oh… yea, that thing. That was a good idea, actually." Ash commented, not knowing what else to say.

Misty glanced at her hands feeling like something was missing. "Where are my handcuffs?"

"Looking for these?" Ash held up four pairs of handcuffs. "It helps when you have the key."

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's lap and smiled at Misty. "(Misty!)"

Misty giggled. "I guess Pikachu is happy to see me." In a serious tone, she asked. "Where are the others?"

Ash pointed a little ways away. "They're still out cold. Pikachu and I awoke a while ago and we dragged all of you guys out of the hole that my Dugtrio made."

"Where are we, anyway?" Misty asked and slowly raised her body. This time, she did it carefully and managed to sit up and confront Ash face-to-face.

"Um… I think that we are near Pewter City." Ash replied.

The silence soon built up. It was an awkward one for neither of them knew how to act around the other. Pikachu glanced at the two, wondering why each of them seemed uncomfortable. He remembered that as kids, these two would talk… or should I say argue like there was no tomorrow. Misty finally broke the silence by murmuring. "By the way, thanks for getting us out of there and not killing us."

Ash laughed shyly. "No problem. You don't have to worry about me killing you anymore." Ash started playing with a piece of grass and then imposed a delicate question that he had on his mind. "So, how have you been these past six years?"

Misty pondered this for a minute. "Well… okay… I guess. As you already know, Brock and I survived the shots. What you probably don't know is that the whole town searched for you for over 2 months. When that failed, Brock and I conducted our own search for a few months. Finally, Brock decided that he ought to go back to Pewter City to take care of his family and run the gym, like before. I went back to Cerulean and stayed with my sisters for a while, but I hated it, so, I ran away. I did achieve my wish though, I became a great water trainer." After catching her breath, she softly inquired. "And you?"

Ash smiled. "You should already know. After all, you did read my profile!"

Misty nodded. "Oh yea… right."

"But, you want to know why I ran away, never came back to Pallet and joined Team Rocket, right?" Ash questioned, noticing the look on her face.

Misty bit her lip. She never was very good at hiding her emotions. "Something like that."

Ash sighed. "Frankly, I was scared and stupid that's all. I thought that the police were after me and that my life was gone. Jessie and James found me and the next thing I knew, I'm standing next to Giovanni as a Rocket member."

"So, many years… it's hard to believe, huh?" Misty said, trying to keep the conversation going.

Ash nodded in agreement. "Yes… and I've hated every minute of it. The only thing that kept me sane was Pikachu and the rest of my pokemon." Ash stopped, knowing that if he said anymore, he'd break down.

Misty realized how much this was affecting Ash and decided to change the topic. "So, Ash, what are we going to do next once the others wake up?"

Ash shook his head. "I don't know. We might want to tell Prof. Oak that I'm back."

Misty grinned. "Sounds like a good plan to me. I know Brock will like it, although Gary and Giselle are probably going to disagree."

"Gary?" Ash turned to look at the others and his eyes rested on Gary. "You mean that's Gary? My old rival? That arrogant bully that used to tease me all the time when we were kids?"

Misty nodded. "Well, now he's an excellent scientist and is probably one of the top in his field."

Ash sighed. "Amazing… I guess a lot of things have changed."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash looked behind him. The four were far away him, clumsily bumping against the forest vegetation. Ash smiled at the sight and stopped in his tracks. It looks like the others weren't used to long hikes through dense forests. That certainly wasn't the case for him. Ash had been doing this for years and considered this as an easy course. He was somewhat amazed that the others were having such difficulty keeping up with him even at his slowest pace. "How are you guys doing?"

"Fine." They all huffed in unison, tired to say the least.

"(Come on guys! Pewter's probably only another mile away, or so!)" Pikachu yelled, but it only sounded like he was saying his name really fast.

Ash nodded and translated what Pikachu said. "Yea, Pikachu's right. Pewter should be only a mile away."

"A mile! My poor little feet can't take another step." Giselle moaned as the four finally reached Ash.

Gary grinned devilishly and pushed her. "There, you took another step."

Giselle fumed in anger. "How dare you push me!"

Gary stuck his tongue out at her. "And what do you plan to do about it?"

The fight continued as Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all glanced at the scene and sweatdropped. Brock then smiled and pointed at the two. "You know, this reminds me of the way that both of you guys used to fight."

"Is not!" Ash and Misty cried together.

Brock grinned. "Want to bet?"

Misty angrily glanced back at Brock. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that."

Pikachu smiled. "(Brock is wise behind his years.)"

Ash snickered. "I heard that!" Pikachu hid behind Brock's leg, hoping to avoid Ash's evil glare. "Well, at least our arguments were quick. Just look at those two go!"

"Never insult my fashion! After all, a person with no fashion can't insult someone with it!" Giselle shouted.

Gary yelled. "Fashion? You call that fashion? I call it clothes covered in bird poop!"

Ash turned to Brock. "Um… Brock, would you like to do the honors?"

Brock grinned and did a quick bow. "It would be my pleasure, Ash." Turning to the bickering pair, Brock yelled. "Guys, chill out!"

The two stopped their arguments, but continued to stare at each other angrily. Pikachu sighed. "(Great! Just what we need! Another Ash and Misty!)"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Pikachu, you are starting to get on my nerves! They are not…" Ash's voice trailed off as his expression changed to a deadly serious one. "Did you guys just hear that?"

Misty and Brock started searching around the area, wondering what Ash was talking about. Gary and Giselle forgot about their fight and did likewise. Pikachu jumped up, ready for battle. Just behind them, a strange humming sound grew louder and louder. Misty cocked her head in confusion. "What is that sound?"

"Sounds like a mosquito." Gary commented as he starting staring at the woods behind him.

Giselle nodded. "Or even a bee."

Remembering their unfortunate encounter a few years back, Ash and Misty shuddered. "Did you say bee?"

Giselle turned to them with an odd look on her face. "Yea, why?"

"I guess you never had an encounter with a Beedrill." Misty stated and groaned. "I really hate bugs, especially Beedrills!"

Brock gasped as the buzzing sound grew even louder. "Isn't this the part where we run?"

Brock barely finished his question before the source of the noise emerged from the forest behind them. A large Beedrill, much like the one Ash owned, glared threateningly at the group. The bee pokemon, without warning, sprinted towards them for an attack. Everyone jumped out of the way as the giant bee pokemon prepared for another attack. Pikachu shocked it with a thunderbolt as Ash started running out of the area. "No, Brock. Now we run!"

The others followed Ash's lead as the pokemon shook off the attack. Although weak, it sprung into the air and took off after the Rebels. The chase was an exhausting one; the group was already tired and now they had to run for their lives. Beedrill grew increasingly annoyed by its victims and tiny yellow spikes shot out from its body.

"Oh great! That's pin missile! Avoid the spikes!" Brock yelled, dodging one right after that statement.

"Like we weren't doing that before!" Giselle groaned.

"We can't… can't keep this up forever." Gary huffed, getting exhausted from the life-and-death struggle.

"Pikachu, try another thunderbolt attack." Ash suggested.

Pikachu glanced back at Ash and shook his head. "(Not this time.)"

Ash stared at his pokemon in confusion. "What do you mean you won't do it? Pikachu!"

Pikachu glared at Ash, but didn't say a word. Humans just couldn't understand sometimes. 

Ash then turned his head and stared into the distance. "Look! Pewter's just ahead!"

Indeed, the city stretched out straight before them. The houses were cast in gray and numbered in the dozens. The streets were nicely paved while curious pedestrians glanced back at the frantic group. Ash and company raced into the city while Ash increased his speed. "Must… keep… running."

"Ash! Stop!" Misty called from behind him beckoning him to slow down.

Ash shouted. "Sorry Misty! That Beedrill…"

"We aren't being chased anymore, idiot!" Misty interrupted.

Ash halted his in tracks. "W… what?"

Misty pointed towards the entrance to Pewter. "Just see for yourself."

On the street lay a lifeless pokemon, a Beedrill. Its wings flapped slightly, the only sign that the pokemon was still alive. Ash and Misty ran back and sighed. Brock, Gary and Giselle and the pair circled around the unfortunate pokemon wondering what had happened.

Misty panted. "Is it going to be all right?"

Giselle bent down and examined it in detail. "I'm not sure. It might be in a coma, but that's weird since it was just chasing us."

"What's wrong with it?" Brock asked.

Giselle shrugged her shoulders. Her experience as a doctor wasn't helping them out now. "I can't say. Further tests need to be conducted. I'm no expert in Beedrills so I can't tell what happened it to."

Misty turned to Pikachu. "And that was why Pikachu didn't attack again. It knew that Beedrill was incredibly weak another thunderbolt could kill it." Pikachu nodded and smiled back at Misty. Finally, someone understood him.

"It wasn't weak! That thing was putting up a good fight, if you ask me!" Gary declared. He also bent down, trying to study it even closer. Gary was about to reach out and touch the Beedrill when he was stopped by Ash.

Ash pulled him away and backed away from the scene. "Everyone, move away from the Beedrill and, whatever you do, don't touch it!"

Misty glanced back at Ash. "Why not?"

Ash, however, wouldn't say. "Look, we have to get out of here. There is nothing we or anyone else can do for it. That Beedrill is long gone."

"What! Are you just going to let a pokemon die! How cruel are you?" Giselle exclaimed.

Ash sighed. "Don't you see? It isn't alive. First of all, it isn't breathing. Second, if it were alive, it would be trying to attack us. Third, the wings aren't being moved by the Beedrill, it's being moved by the wind!"

The others glanced at the pokemon. The wings were in fact moving in sync with a steady gust of the wind that swept through the area. Ash was right; the Beedrill was dead. Unknown to the Rebels, a group of people in dark blue suits drove into the area. Their suits resembled spacesuits; it was like these people had just been to the moon and back. They parked their matching blue van nearby the scene and jumped out of it. "Nothing to see here. Nothing at all." A woman stated as some of her other peers hurriedly picked up the giant pokemon and dumped it in their van. A man then came back to the area where the Beedrill previously lay and sprayed something over the area. Not even glancing back at Ash or the others, the man ran back to the dark blue van, as did the others. They then drove out of the area as fast as they had arrived.

"Well, that was weird." Misty stated.

"Those were the same people from the Pokemon Center in Viridian!" Gary yelled.

Ash nodded. "Yea, they always do that. Actually, they were pretty fast today. Normally, it takes them around a quarter of an hour to remove the body."

Giselle turned to Ash. "What do you mean?"

Ash sighed. "That Beedrill had Stellar."

"What!" The others cried in disbelief.

Misty then whispered. "But, that would mean…"

"Yes." Ash nodded, answering Misty's question before she could even finish it. "Since we all had contact with that pokemon, we all might be infected."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Misty paced restlessly back and forth. Her thoughts started wandering as she sighed in regret. Why did that stupid Beedrill attack them? Why did it have to be infected? Now, they are probably all go crazy and kill each other. Great… that's what they needed. How are they going to know who is infected and who isn't?

Misty then glanced at the others. Gary and Giselle were arguing again. Brock was, as usual, was trying to be the referee without much success. Her eyes then wandered over to the newest member of their team. Ash didn't even notice the argument taking place or even seem to care for that matter. His attitude was completely calm, the exact opposite of Misty's. Ash was simply sitting in a chair apparently in the middle of a deep conversation with Pikachu.

Misty then gazed around the rest of the area. They were in a Pokemon Center in Pewter making a videophone call… well, sort of. She finally grew tired of the bickering and typed in a set of numbers on the videophone's keypad. The fight ended when Joe appeared on the screen. "Well, how are you guys doing?"

Misty gave a weak smile and replied. "Okay, I guess. Where's Prof. Oak?"

Joe shook his head. "You've got me. He's somewhere in the lab and should be meeting me any minute."

Gary raced to the phone. "Hey, Joe!"

"Hi Gary!" Joe smiled and then added. "So, what's new in the mission? Did you find Ash yet?"

Ash smiled as his name came up and walked over to the screen. "Does this answer your question?" Pikachu jumped up to his shoulder and waved to Joe.

Joe's eyes widened in amazement. "You guys already found him? That's amazing!"

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "Well, actually, he was the one who found us by rescuing us from Team Rocket's headquarters."

Joe dropped the phone in shock and picked up the phone with an embarrassed look on his face. "So soon? That's amazing!" Joe then turned to Ash. "Ash, after all these years… and I thought that you were dead!"

Ash nodded. "A lot of people did." In a deep voice, he added. "Seriously, where is Prof. Oak? I need to ask him about something."

"Did someone call my name?" Professor Oak inquired as he entered the room and walked right beside Joe. "Ash? Is that really you?"

Ash sighed. This was starting to get annoying. "Yes, it's me. Is it that hard to believe? Have I changed that much?" Not even giving the others a chance to answer, Ash quickly turned to the Prof. "Prof. Oak, do you know the last location that this disease popped up?"

Prof. Oak shook his head. "Sorry, Ash. I can't say, but Joe might be able to help. Joe?"

"I'm on it." Joe quickly started typing on the computer. After a few clicks of the mouse, Joe smiled. "Done."

"You're better than I thought. So, where is it?" Ash inquired.

Joe glanced again at the computer screen. "Hold on it's loading… okay, just finished. It appears that there have been a lot of recent attacks near Cerulean City. The most recent 'outbreak of strange behavior' this article says is about 5 miles east of Cerulean."

Ash grinned. "I think we know where we're going to next. The Serpents have been experimenting a lot lately with Stellar and now we have a pinpoint on the location of their Headquarters."

"Um, Ash, who are the Serpents anyway?" Giselle shyly asked.

Ash gasped. "You mean that you guys really don't know who the Serpents are?" After seeing 6 nods, including Prof. Oak and Joe's, Ash groaned. "I can't believe my ears. How did you guys make it this far without knowing who the Serpents were?"

Brock sighed. "Remember, Ash, you probably know more about this mission than all of us combined."

"I guess you're right, still that's pretty surprising. Anyway, the Serpent Clan is a group even more evil than Team Rocket." Ash declared.

Joe blinked in astonishment. "What? I thought that Team Rocket ruled the underworld of crime."

"That's what they want you to think. Team Rocket is an infamous and a dangerous group. Because of their public nature, most people know about. However, the Serpents are very secretive. They are much deadlier for they use stealth to murder people and pokemon alike. The group is nothing more than a killing machine obsessed with power. They will destroy anything that stands in their way; not even Team Rocket does that." Ash stated drearily, like he was a kindergarten teacher trying to explain to his class how to color within the lines.

"So, Team Rocket and the Serpents are enemies?" Gary asked.

Ash groaned. This was common knowledge to him. "Yes, of course. Since each group wants power, they always fight. Before they used guns to fight; now they use pathogens."

"So, Stellar was created as a weapon. But, why is it so vital that we break into the Serpent's H.Q.?" Misty questioned.

Ash turned to face her. "The Serpents have the antidote. They were the one who created it in the first place." Looking back at the videophone, Ash produced a small black box. "And they also created this."

"What's that?" Prof. Oak interrogated, edging closer to the screen.

Ash opened the box and showed its contents to the others. The only thing that it held was a test tube filled with a bluish substance. "Meet Stellar." He then closed the box and added. "I'll transport it to you right now. Run some tests on it." With that, Ash ran out of the area and over to the section that held the transporting machines.

Prof. Oak smiled. "This is amazing. Not only do we have the microbe, but Ash joined the group."

Misty sighed. Her mind wandered away to the past as she dreamily responded. "I know what you mean." Snapping out of her daydreaming mood, Misty continued. "Professor, we have a problem here."

Prof. Oak raised a questioning eyebrow. "What problem?"

Brock raced to the screen. "Um… we might all be infected with Stellar."

"What!" Joe and the Prof. Oak cried in unison.

Misty nodded. "Yes, it's true. On our way to Pewter City, our current location, we met with a crazy Beedrill. This thing chased us all the way into the city and then died on the street. According to Ash, the Beedrill had Stellar and we all had close contact with it, in some way or another."

Prof. Oak glanced back at the group with a pitiful expression pasted on his face. "This is horrible! I can't risk you guys infecting the people in Pewter or Cerulean. You are all have be quarantined now. This is going to delay the whole mission, drastically."

"What's going to delay the whole mission drastically, sir?" Ash asked, walking back into the area.

"Since we all might be infected, Prof. Oak says that we have to be quarantined." Gary explained.

"No, we don't have to be quarantined. By the way, I just transported Stellar to you." Ash quickly stated with confidence flooding his voice.

"But, we might spread the disease to a local population! Not to mention kill ourselves or others in the process!" Giselle moaned as the others nodded in agreement.

"The nice thing about Stellar is that we can't infect a local population. You see, Stellar is similar to rabies in that respect; transference between humans is incredibly rare. The disease is mainly spread when an infected pokemon attacks other pokemon or humans." Ash simply stated.

"But, couldn't the infected person kill themselves or other people?" Misty inquired.

Ash nodded. "Yes, that part is a problem, but we are going to have to live with those risks. That Beedrill could have spread Stellar to us when it used its pin missile attack."

"Still, why risk going on to Cerulean? Why risk endangering our lives and other people's?" Giselle questioned.

Ash sighed. "If we don't continue, then we can't get the antibiotic. If that happens, we are dooming a few people in this group to certain death. Do you really want that?"

"No." The others whispered.

Joe sighed. "Ok, this is going to get tricky. I have studied Beedrills before and I heard that their pin missile has poor range. Considering the fact that this Beedrill was barely alive when it attacked you all, only one of you, in all probability, is infected. I'm pretty sure that you guys can restrain one person from a killing rampage."

Prof. Oak walked out of the room and returned with the box that Ash held before. He then grasped the test tube and sighed. "We are going to do everything in our power to find our own antibiotic, in case something goes wrong. Call us when you get to Cerulean, okay?"

"Sure." The Rebels answered and hung up the phone.

"Well, that went well, right AK?" Giselle playfully asked.

After a moment, Ash murmured. "Please, just call me Ash. I feel like I'm dealing with those Rocket retards again if you call me AK. I really hate that name."

"Then why did you use it for 6 years?" Misty questioned.

Ash bit his lip as he was engulfed in his own thoughts. "Well, it was a nickname given to me."

"By who?" Brock asked as his interest peeked.

Ash lowered his head to the ground suddenly finding the ground tiles incredibly interesting. "Oh… no one in particular."

Gary snickered in his usual arrogant manner. "Oh come on! You can tell us."

"That last thing I want to talk about is _her_. She ruined my life!" Ash cried and forcefully shut his eyes, trying to stop the painful memories from surfacing.

A silent moment passed as the other four made a silent agreement with one another. An issue this painful to someone as impassive and stubborn as Ash must be tearing him up inside.

Trying to change the subject, Gary then turned to Ash. "Ash, just how much do you know about Stellar? If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you were an expert on it!"

Ash slowed opened his eyes, glad to get away from those painful memories. A slow shy grin crept onto his face as he simply stated. "That's because I am."

"What!" Gary gasped in shock, and then added with a smirk smile on his lips. "Ok, Ash, prove it."

Ash walked up to Gary with a puzzled look on his face. "Prove it? In what way?" 

Gary crossed his arms across his chest, trying to look intimidating, but failing miserably since Ash was a full inch taller than him. "Explain in detail how this bacteria makes you aggressive."

Ash sighed. "If that's the way you want it…" Taking a deep breath, he continued. "The bacteria enters your bloodstream and travels to your brain. It then attaches onto the amygdala; why it attaches here and not to any other part of the brain is currently unknown. It feeds on glutamate…"

"Isn't glutamate that amino acid neurotransmitter that participates in a wide variety of brain functions, especially in the central nervous system?" Gary interrupted.

Ash glanced at him in surprise. "Yes, it looks like you are familiar with the brain. Anyway, this bacteria feeds on this amino acid, so that, for a while, the amygdala's activities decrease and the victim becomes a little tamer than usual. However, once the white blood cells find this pathogen and make antibodies, things change. When they try to destroy Stellar, the bacteria burst open and spew its meal, glutamate, all over the amygdala. This, in turn, activates this part of the brain and since this part…"

"… of the brain controls aggression, fear and anxiety, the victim becomes paranoid and violent." Gary continued, but then added. "But doesn't the amygdala control other emotions like happiness?"

Ash nodded. "Yes, but it only affects the part of the amygdala that controls these negative emotions."

"Oh, I understand now." Gary smiled.

"Well, I certainly don't!" Giselle screamed.

"You lost me on the onramp." Brock stated.

"And in English that would be?" Misty questioned. 

Ash sighed. "Basically, it means that the bacteria attaches to the part of the brain that controls aggression, fear and anxiety. When the immune system tries to destroy the invaders, Stellar activates this part of the brain so you tend to be more violent and paranoid than normal. In fact, it can make you so violent and paranoid that you try to kill others, including yourself. In pokemon, Stellar causes you to bite other creatures as well as humans. Basically, when you get Stellar, you go crazy."

"Oh… I see." Misty and Giselle murmured together.

Brock was silent for a moment with a look on his face indicating that he was in deep thought. "So, in other words, Stellar makes you aggressive and anxious?"

"Gee, how did you come up with that conclusion?" Misty scoffed.

Gary then turned to Giselle. "Giselle, I thought that you were a doctor?"

"I am, it's just that I didn't study the brain that closely in school!" Giselle moaned.

"Ok, we ought to get going." Brock commented and then persisted. "I really want to see my family again. We can stay the night at my house."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ash stated and started walking out of the Pokemon Center, followed by the rest of the Rebels.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Timmy, that's got to be the best meal that I've ever had!" Gary cried as he slammed his empty plate on the table. Sighing in content, Gary leaned back in his chair as his eyes drifted around the room. The place was a basic living room with a huge table, numerous chairs and small decorations brightening up the area. Remembering how small Brock's house looked from the outside, he was pleasantly surprised at the size of this room. When Gary glanced at the others, he grinned. The rest of his friends seemed just as relaxed and content as he did. 

Brock smiled proudly at his younger brother. "Well, Timmy always was good with a pan."

"I guess it must run it in the family, right Brock?" Ash grinned as he thought of all those fabulous meals that Brock used to make when they were kids.

Timmy's face turned red in embarrassment as he murmured. "Well, I don't know about that…"

"Timmy, you just have to give me the recipe for this! This is so much better than my cooking!" Giselle screeched as she licked her lips, eager for more.

Gary snickered in a sarcastic voice. "And why doesn't that surprise me?"

Before another fight arose, Misty quickly spoke. "Um… I think the phone is ringing."

The others glanced at her in surprise and the room quieted to a silent hush. In the background, there was a small humming sound that could only be described as a phone. Half in humiliation and half in annoyance, Timmy raced to the videophone. The image was blank on the screen; whoever was calling didn't want to show their face. "Hello? May I know who's speaking?" Time ticked by as the seconds transformed into minutes. By the time Timmy returned to the dinner table, a bizarre expression graced his face, bestowing an unnerving feeling in the air.

"Is something wrong?" The anger that previously clouded Giselle's face vanished like a white rabbit placed in a magician's black top hat.

Timmy removed his traumatized appearance at the sight of a room filled with compassion and concern. "That was a strange call. Must have been a wrong number or something."

Curiosity assumed responsibility over Brock's better judgment. "What did they say?"

Pondering this question for a moment, Timmy replied slowly. "All they said was 'river 12 lace' and hung up. Weird, don't you think so?"

"Lace! Did you say lace! Are you sure they said lace? Sure they didn't say something else like… late?" Ash exclaimed hastily as eyes bulged to an unnatural circumference.

"Yes… they said lace. They said river 12 lace, whatever that means." Timmy replied trying to sound nonchalant but clearly failing as he stared at the peculiar expression glued to Ash's face.

Misty blinked in total bewilderment. "Are you ok, Ash?"

Confusion flooded Ash's face as he remembered his abnormal behavior. Hiding his face by staring at the ground, Ash searched his mind for a reasonable response. "Me? Oh, I'm fine. Yeah… perfectly fine. I just… I just have a headache. Perhaps I should turn in early. Um… where are the guestrooms?"

Brock glanced skeptically at Ash. "Here, follow me." Brock then led Ash out of the room.

The others watched the two wander out of the area. Still paralyzed by the sudden outburst, the occupants in the room never even twitched a muscle; it was like time had frozen for these four. Timmy finally broke the silence by sighing. "That was weird."

"Extremely weird." Misty narrowed her eyes as she stared at the place where the odd event had recently occurred. It was extremely obvious that Ash was lying but why? What was the big deal about lace? Tossing these questions aside, Misty continued. "Perhaps getting some shuteye might not be a bad idea."

"I think I'll get some sleep as well." Giselle and Gary both commented. Giving an utterly scornful glare to one another, Gary and Giselle followed Brock and Ash out of the room.

Misty sighed and strolled out of the room but she couldn't shake off this curiously foreboding feeling that consumed her thoughts. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

_"No!!!!!!"_ screaming, Misty jerked upright as beads of sweat poured down her neck. Panting slightly, like she had just run a marathon, Misty gripped the covers tightly. Danger seemed to manifest itself into the shadows that circled the room. Trying to mentally calm herself down, Misty swallowed large gulps of air and turned her head towards her roommate. Giselle seemed unaffected by Misty's shrieks of terror and continued snoring as loud as a blender placed right next to the eardrum.

Relieved and annoyed at the same time by Giselle's unbearable snoring, Misty slipped off the numerous blankets piled on top of her and placed her delicate feet on the floor. With that the horrible dream… more like horrendous nightmare… still fresh in her mind, Misty tried to make sense of it. Images of a crumbling world bubbling with belligerence flickered within her alarmed mind. Her hands trembled at the pain in the dream, her breathing transformed into quick gasps at the blood that was omnipresent within her vision, her heart rate intensified at the death that flooded her nightmare. Fear clutched her body as the nightmare continued to replay in her mind. When she finally had enough strength to stop the vivid memories, Misty still couldn't escape from the horror of it. After all, nightmares about the end of the world are hard to forget.

Misty staggered out of the room, careful not to wake up Giselle, although that seemed incredibly difficult to do considering the degree of sound echoing from her throat. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep if she stayed in the room, Misty decided to take a walk outside. Walks always calm her down.

Once she reached the fresh air outside, Misty smiled. The black night cloaked her in peace while the cold wind twirled around her body. Placing one foot in front of another, Misty gracefully skated across the grassy plain that surrounded the area. A crisp forest glowed in the darkness, watching Misty through its shrewd eyes. The moon was the only source of light in the area and it seemed to follow Misty like a spotlight.

During her serene moment of bliss, Misty glazed around curiously and noticed something stir in the shadows of the trees. Like a reflex action, Misty quickened her pace to a sprint and dashed to the spot. When she arrived there, she discovered that whatever it was had disappeared. A little disappointed, Misty started walking away that is until she saw some movement deeper within the woods. This time, she scuttled towards it even faster than before. To her relief, Misty found that she was catching up to this speedy entity. Although the dark shadows managed to conceal the object's appearance, Misty could make out that it was a person. Confused to say the least, Misty forced her legs to continue her outlandishly fast pace. Thankfully, the person stopped after what seemed like eternity by a nearby river. Misty tilted her head in puzzlement. She never knew that there was a river near Pewter.

Now that the figure was cast in the moonlight's glow, Misty could examine this person properly. It was clear that it was a man, but that wasn't what surprised her. What surprised her was the fact that she recognized this man. "Ash? What is he doing here?" Misty whispered to herself as she hid behind some local vegetation.

Ash cast his weary eyes along the darkened stream. The small river twinkled like a star, dividing the forest and the grassy plains as well. The area was peaceful, yet Ash twitched impatiently. He didn't even want to be here. He didn't even know why he came here in the first place. Ash sighed in regret when he looked at his shoulder. Pikachu was fast asleep back in the house and Ash didn't want to disturb the little rodent in its slumber. Besides, this should be quick, hopefully.

"I see that you got my message." A strange feminine voice floated through the air.

Ash growled as his mind remembered the times when he heard that wicked voice before. "You know that we shouldn't meet."

A beautiful woman a few years older than Ash glided to the stream, seemingly suspended in midair. The trees bowed to her presence as she slipped past their branches. Dark black hair flowed from her head and silky sapphire eyes stared at Ash. However, Ash didn't even glance in her direction. He just gazed at the grassy plain straight ahead of him, wishing that he were somewhere else. The woman, obviously upset at Ash's attitude, strolled to his side. "But you came, didn't you?"

Ash's features hardened as he turned to face this young beauty. "What do you want?"

"What? No small talk? What's the world coming to nowadays? Can't one person just have a simple conversation with another person?" The ravishing woman remarked sardonically.

Ash's eyes narrowed until they were no more than slits. "What do you want, Lass?"

Lass smiled wickedly at the sound of her own name. "I'm glad that you remember me. Like my message? River 12 Lace? I thought that it was clever considering that very few people know about this river and that no one comes here, especially at midnight. Lace… remember the days when you used to call me that?"

"You're stalling." Ash simply commented.

"Me? Stall?" Lass giggled in a childish tone. Seeing the serious expression still dawning Ash's face, Lass held in her hands up in mock surrender. "Ok! Ok, I give up! I was stalling before, but do you have to be so harsh?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders as a lifeless expression masked his face. "Why did you want to meet?"

"To discuss some things. I heard that you quit Team Rocket and joined a new and useless group." Lass rudely stated in a carefree manner. It almost seemed that insulting people was her fulltime hobby.

Anger quivered through his blood as Ash snarled. "They're called the Rebels and they aren't useless. In fact, they are strong enough to stop this whole business, with my help, of course."

"With your help? They don't stand a chance! Remember Ashy who really gave you all your information and kept you in the game. Without me, you'd be just as hopeless as your friends. I bet that you haven't even told them about me. Am I right, Ashy?" Lass cooed in a singsong voice laced with a sinful pitch.

"There was no need. Those details are unimportant." Ash quickly replied as an aura of cold hatred surrounded him.

Lass tauntingly shook her head. "On the contrary, Ashy, they are much more important than you think."

"And is that why you arranged this whole meeting? To point out my mistakes and tell me what I don't know? If that's so, then I might as well just leave." Ash started walking towards a dirt path in the woods.

Lass glared at the retreating figure. "You know, as well as I, that I don't plan insignificant meetings when we both could get easily killed!" Her lighthearted attitude vanished from sight.

Ash stopped in the path and slowly turned around. "Then get to the point."

Lass fiddled with her hair before speaking. "Well, I have some information for you."

"Go on." Ash raised his head, slightly intrigued by her statement.

Lass shrugged her shoulders and playfully smiled. "It's about Stellar."

Ash groaned. You just couldn't have a straight conversation with Lass; it takes her forever for her to get to the point. In a threatening tone, Ash scowled. "Lass…"

"Ashy, a little impatient, aren't we?" Lass mocked in a childish voice before continuing. "All I wanted to say was that one of the people in your group is infected, and I even know which one."

Ash opened his mouth as a baffled expression splashed across his face. "How do you know which person it is? None of my friends have been properly examined, especially by you."

Lass placed her delicate hands on her hips and stared at Ash conceitedly. "I have my secrets, Ashy."

"Who is infected?" Ash inquired as he crossed his hands across his chest.

Lass smiled maliciously. She knew that she had caught his interest. As if she were playing with a toy, Lass approached his side and shook her lovely head from side to side. "I can't tell you that. It would ruin the suspense, don't you agree?"

Ash backed away from Lass with an angry snort. "I already knew that information. If all you want to do is play tricks on people, then stay away from my friends and me. Good bye, Lace."

"Hold it! Would you stop trying to get away from me?" Lass whined stubbornly. "I'll admit, that wasn't the reason why I called you here."

Reading the expression pasted on Lass' face, Ash murmured in an insensitive voice. "I'm not joining you."

Lass glanced innocently back at Ash. "Ashy, already denying my request? We work well together, why do you refuse? You know I could give you anything you want."

Ash nodded. "I know, but I don't want anything except to stop you and the Serpents. I still don't understand how you could have joined such an evil organization in the first place. I'm sticking with the Rebels all the way." It was clear that he had made up his mind.

Knowing how stubborn Ash could be, Lass coaxed. "You sure?"

"Absolutely." Ash simply replied and started walking away from Lass.

Lass sighed in disappointment. She then yelled. "Ok, if that's the way you want it, then so be it. But, be careful! The contaminated person is a very good friend of yours. The last thing that you'd want is to get killed by one of your best friends."

Ash trembled at the thought but continued walking out of the area. He knew that he shouldn't have come.

Lass watching him depart; slightly sadden, like she had lost something that she never really owned in the first place. In a flash, she disappeared down another trail.

Misty finally emerged from her hiding spot and brushed off the leaves that stuck to her clothes. Forcing her now sleepy eyes to open, Misty tried to focus on the path ahead of her but she couldn't help thinking about the previous conversation. Who was this Lass person and why didn't Ash tell them about her before? Trying desperately to sort out the numerous facts in her mind, Misty started regretting that she didn't wear shoes. The little pebbles were torture on her bare feet. During this lonely walk, one question in particular stuck out in her brain. Why was it that during her nightly strolls, she somehow always gets stuck eavesdropping on people and gaining valuable knowledge?

*~*~*~*~*~*

If any of you played Pokemon Red/Blue, you might remember Lass as one of the trainers that you have to battle. Just to avoid some confusion in this chapter, let me clarify some parts. Remember when Ash was explaining how Stellar actually works? Well, that part is 100% true; the amygdala really is a part of your brain that is known to control emotions like aggression and fear. It's also thought to control other emotions like happiness, but not as much. Glutamate is the real name of a neurotransmitter that is used in the brain. I actually did some research on the brain, so, there is a chance that a disease like Stellar could really occur in nature. (Scary thought, isn't it?) Since I'm betting that most of you really didn't know exactly what Ash was telling Gary, I made Ash make a statement to Misty, Brock and Giselle that explained it in a simpler way. Also, I know that Brock's dad, Flint, and the rest of his millions of brothers and sisters should be at home now. However, I really didn't think that they were necessary so, let's just assume that they all went on a trip somewhere… Another thing: the code "River 12 lace" means the following if you didn't get it. River= a small unknown river near Pewter (location where Lass wanted to meet Ash). 12= 12 o'clock, midnight (time Lass wanted to meet Ash). Lace= a nickname that Ash made up for her before (this was put into the code in order for Ash to know who was sending him the message). He doesn't call her Lace that much in the last section because he's basically hates her guts at the present moment. Okay, that about wraps thing up. Please continue sending me reviews. I love getting them! J I'll try to bring out the next part ASAP, but it'll probably take a couple of days because writing, editing and reediting takes FOREVER to do! Oh, feel free to email at [starmist@freeze.com][1] with any comments, criticism, questions or anything else.

   [1]: mailto:starmist@freeze.com



	4. Chapter 3: Unveiled Anxiety

A/N: Here it is, my long awaited 3rd chapter. When I wrote this, I had literally no idea where I was going and I came up with this. Enjoy everyone and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Second Chance

Chapter 3: Unveiled Anxiety

*~*~*~*~*~*

All seems quiet under the beautiful moon that rose above Pewter City. Everyone lay asleep in their little beds, dreaming of the usual dreams. The recent adventures of the night twirled around in the brains of some, while others envisioned everything from counting sheep to flying like a bird in the night sky.

Only one mind lay restless in this sweet serene atmosphere. The mind seemed so abnormally jumpy and violent that the peacefully visions of the others seemed to beckon in fear at the tortured soul of this poor person.

It wasn't their fault… no; it was the result of years of inhumane experiments that lead this person into a wild frenzy. Their brain refused to rest tonight; all it wanted to do was fight and… kill? What was wrong with this person?

The individual refused to let these compulsions take control of them. They fought an inward battle that only ceased only when both sides collapsed in utter exhaustion. Sleep finally managed to dominate over this being. As their eyes closed, the person knew that if another battle like that arose, they couldn't control those devious impulses for long…

*~*~*~*~*~*

Brock sighed.

The group was falling apart… literally.

He looked over at Gary and Giselle and could see the hate bubbling in their eyes. Their arguments were going to tear this group apart and their lack of team cooperation was revolting.

Ash and Misty were walking ahead of him. Brock turned to them and shook his head. The years haven't changed these two. He observed the cold fury simmering in Misty's eyes whenever they lay on Ash. He examined Ash's overburdened face; his mind was hundreds of miles away thinking of the hardships and problems that only a leader would think of. He could also see that this awkward silence couldn't last forever; sooner or later, they were going to be fighting like there was no tomorrow.

That only left him; he was the only one that could keep this mission together. If he didn't, the evils that plague this world would have already won, without a fight.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash kicked a small pebble that lay in his path and watched it skip a few yards away. However, his mind wasn't on the pebble; it was on Lass.

Lass… why did she have to turn up after all these years? He knew that she could easily destroy him and his friends without a second thought but… something was stopping her. Ash smiled. He knew all too well what was stopping her… she loved to play with people's emotions… she played with his more than even he'd like to admit to himself.

Ash turned his head and caught a quick glimpse of Misty. Her eyes seemed to boil in thought, but once she noticed him staring at her, she immediately turned away. What was wrong with her? Even though she hadn't spoken to him since yesterday, Ash could feel the hate scattering from her soul towards him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The dirt trail seemed to continue on forever in Gary's mind. Why did the road to Cerulean have to be such a long one? And they hadn't even reached Mt. Moon yet! This was really starting to get annoying.

Speaking of annoying, Gary remembered who was following him: Giselle. That girl was such a nuisance! With her horrendous fashion, arrogant attitude and brainless personality, it was no wonder that she got on his nerves! Yet, his pesky conscience reminded him that he was the one who started most of the fights. Why did he do that? Confusion blocked his brain for a moment, so Gary decided to keep his eyes on the road and his mind away from Giselle.

When he did so, he could feel the tension arising between the other three, especially between Ash and Misty. Deciding to break the silence and anxiety that seemed to build up in the air, Gary spoke. "How much longer will it be until we reach Mt. Moon?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe another mile or so."

Giselle stopped in her tracks as her eyes widened in utter shock. "We're going to Mt. Moon?"

Deciding that this was the perfect time to tease his companion, Gary answered in a conceited voice. "Yes. Didn't you know that the road from Pewter to Cerulean passes through Mt. Moon?"

Taking this rhetorical question seriously, Giselle whispered. "I knew that! It's just… just that I forgot."

Misty kept her head down but smiled wickedly as an ironic thought crossed her mind. "Funny, I thought that Ash only said such stupid things."

Ash flashed her a warning glance. His anger built up momentarily but he quickly cooled it. "I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that."

Misty grinned as was about to tease him further when she was interrupted by none other than Giselle. In order to explain her fear to the group, Giselle sighed. "I didn't know that we were going to be traveling through a volcano."

"What?" Brock asked, confused to say the least. Remembering Giselle's intellect, he rudely continued. "Come on, Giselle. People have passed through Mt. Moon for years without trouble. It couldn't be a volcano… you are clearly mistaken."

Misty and Gary nodded to themselves, although they decided to keep their mouths shut. Ash, seeing that Giselle needed some help, stopped in his tracks and nonchalantly stated. "Actually, Mt. Moon has started becoming active only within the last few years."

"You mean that she was right?" Misty, Brock and Gary all shouted in surprise at the fact that Giselle was smarter than she looked.

Giselle glared angrily at the three. "And why would you think otherwise?"

Pikachu, who had been fast asleep on Ash's shoulder, scurried to his feet. "(But it isn't going to erupt for a while.)"

Ash nodded at his pokemon in agreement. "Pikachu has a good point. You guys don't have to worry about it; Mt. Moon isn't going to erupt for at least another few years." The others sighed in immense relief at this statement. Ash then rapidly continued. "But, we do have to watch out for the rockslides, earthquakes and some wild and possibly infected pokemon in there."

"Rockslides?" Gary questioned with fear bouncing off his tongue.

"Earthquakes?" Giselle trembled.

"Infected pokemon?" Brock gasped.

Ash simply shook his head up and down "That's right. But, we shouldn't be in there for long. Taking the fastest route, it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes."

Gary, Giselle and Brock once again breathed in a sigh of immense relief. Misty, however, was strangely quiet and merely stared at the dusty path in front of her. Noticing this, Gary gently murmured. "Misty, are you all right?"

Misty's head darted as fast as a lightning bolt to an upright position. "Never been better, no thanks to Ash worrying us to death, though," Managing a fake smile, Misty acted almost like she was happy… almost. Her performance, though, could have used some work. The group saw through her like a beautiful piece of polished glass.

"What did I do?" Ash questioned as he glared at her. What was with all the insults today?

"Um… Ash, earthquakes and rockslides are manageable, but how are we going to fight against infected pokemon?" Brock asked, trying to divert some unnecessary attention away from Misty.

Ash pondered this for a moment before replying. "All we can do is avoid them." This simple statement didn't help quench the group's worries, though.

"Well, how do we know which pokemon are infected and which aren't?" Giselle asked as worry started creeping up her spine.

Gary smiled, as if the answer to that question was as obvious as the color of the sky. "If the pokemon are crazy and are basically trying to kill you, then, I think that they are infected."

Giselle glared at Gary before rewording her question. "No, I mean, how do we know that they are infected before they start going crazy? If I get a bite from a small little pokemon that seems pretty harmless, how do I know that it doesn't have Stellar?"

"Good question." Ash stated. "The symptoms for Stellar, before going absolutely crazy, are quite numerous. Sometimes, the eyes turn red, you feel abnormal weak, the victim can get rather clumsy… um… what else?"

At this inopportune moment, Giselle tripped and slammed flat on her face. By the time she jumped to her feet, Giselle noticed the amused looks from her friends because her little trip. "That was a coincidence. I swear!"

Gary giggled in the background and murmured under his own breath. "Sure it was."

"I think that Ash's stupidity is rubbing off on Giselle." Misty growled threateningly. It seems that she really wanted to pick a fight with Ash today.

"Shut up Misty." Giselle groaned as she brushed the dirt off of her clothes.

Ash, apparently hadn't taken notice of the awkward scene or the insult, for he continued to ramble, more to himself than anyone else. "Let's see… was it ear aches? No… swelling of the head? No, that's not right… What was it? Gosh… it's the most common symptom of Stellar too! It's on the tip of my tongue!"

"(Headaches! You're forgetting about headaches! Victims of Stellar normally have massive headaches before they start turning aggressive!)" Pikachu screamed at the top of his little lungs, but it didn't help. Ash was so concentrated on his own thoughts that he didn't grasp what Pikachu was saying. "(Ash? Hello? I said headaches? As in the head starts to ache? Are you even listening to me?)"

Gary sweatdropped at the ridiculous scene. Pikachu was literally yelling right in Ash's ear and he still didn't notice it. Deciding to interrupt his incredible concentration, Gary muttered. "Um… Ash? I think that Pikachu is trying to tell you something."

Only now did Ash snap back into the real world. "Huh? What? Pikachu, what were you saying?"

Pikachu, who collapsed onto its side from sheer exhaustion, gasped. "(Never mind.)"

Ash simply dismissed the comical scene from his brain and started continuing his rapid pace. "Let's get going. The faster we get to Mt. Moon, the better."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, here we are." Brock reported as he inspected the area. In front of him stood the infamous Mt. Moon and a small path that led inside the wicked volcano. Barren stonewalls lined the cone-shaped object preventing the growth of small bushes and other plant life. The rocky surface of the mountain was covered with boulders that were so precarious, not even the most experienced mountain-climbers would dare attempt to climb it. 

"Indeed." Giselle sighed as she tilted her head back in order to see the to the top of the intimating mountain. The summit was circled by fluffy white clouds that nicely hid the peak of Mt. Moon.

After a moment, Gary sighed. "Shall we proceed?"

Ash merely nodded and led the group inside the dark cavern. Once inside, an army of black shadows surrounded them on all sides. Turning to Pikachu, Ash smiled. "Pikachu, will you please light the way with your flash?"

Pikachu grinned and followed his master's orders. A blinding light echoed from his furry body, allowing the group to see in all directions. They appeared to be in a naturally formed tunnel that slithered ahead of them. The dark cavern walls squeezed them in while the bleak atmosphere only served to panic them.

The Rebels walked silently, only guided by the bright light that flared from Pikachu's body. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Ash commented. "I almost forgot about the complicated maze of caverns inside of Mt. Moon. This area could be hazardous to people who don't know what they're doing."

"Like yourself?" Misty snickered under her breath.

Hearing this childish insult, Ash spun around so fast that Pikachu toppled from his shoulder and fell flat onto the hard dirt path. The bright source of electricity vanished for a moment, leaving the Rebels in complete darkness. Terror soared within the group until Pikachu flashed a brilliant yellow once again.

Not even noticing this, Ash frowned at Misty. "Ok, what is wrong with you? Ever since we left Pewter, you have been glaring at me and insulting me. Are you angry at me?"

Resisting the urge to say "Gee, and where did you ever get such an idea from?" she simply kept her mouth shut. Like a movie, the events from last night replayed over and over in her mind. Ash had purposely lied to the group by withholding information. Not only that, but also he's mingling with the enemy and gathering information from them. Just what was going on with him?

Ash waited patiently for a snappy comeback from the fiery redhead but was astonished at the silence that he received instead. This wasn't like Misty. "Oh, come on Misty! Aren't you even going to talk to me? Are you going to stay silent throughout the whole trip?" Turning to the others, Ash hoped for a little help or at least encouragement. He obtained neither. The others were watching the conversation with blank looks painted on their expressionless faces. Deciding that his friendly attitude wasn't going to count for a nickel now, Ash tried another approach. "Misty, seriously, I don't know what I did wrong, and whatever I did to make you upset, I'm sorry. But, remember, we are all on the same team and if we don't all try and have some team spirit, then I'm afraid that this whole group is sunk."

Misty snarled at his manipulative speech. "Team spirit? You're one to talk."

Silently confused not to mention irritated by her words, Ash narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Team spirit includes honesty; a department that you aren't very proficient in." Misty stated coldly.

Puzzlement blazed from his face as Ash inquired. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Honesty is the _lace that holds the group together. You haven't told us the whole truth about this mission, have you __Ashy? Is a little __lass like myself right about that, __Ashy?" Misty taunted and smiled at the clever way she incorporated what happened last night into her statement._

Ash shook his head and moaned. "What's with the nickname? Why do people have to use such stupid nicknames like _Ashy! The only other person who called me __Ashy was…" Ash's voice trailed off as he glanced curiously at her. She knew. He could see it in her eyes. "You were spying on me?"_

Crossing her arms over her chest, Misty barked in reply. "Spying? It just so happens that I was taking a walk last night and I saw you and followed you. It was a good thing I did too; you would have never told us about Lass."

"Who's Lass?" Gary questioned shyly.

Ash, glad to have a distraction from Misty and her abusive behavior, sighed. "She's just a girl that I used to know. She wanted to talk to me last night."

"Did you also mention that she's also a Serpent?" Misty shouted crossly as her eyes flashed a brilliant red.

The others gasped in surprise while Ash just cringed. Pikachu opened its tiny mouth in shock as sparks of radiant electricity dived off its cheeks. "(You met with Lass last night! Ash! Don't you know that she's trouble? She's been ruining your life for 6 years straight! What were you thinking?)"

Ash held his hands over his ears as if someone was placing their fingernails against a blackboard and creating that excruciating screeching sound. He didn't want to hear this. It was complete and utter torture for him to hear these undoubtedly accurate words of wisdom. After calming down somewhat, Ash turned to Pikachu. "Yes, I know. I know. She did ruin my life but that doesn't include those shootings, which you always insist that she caused. I tell you she wasn't involved in those shootings! At least… it wasn't proven…"

"(Ash! Come on! She purposely set that whole thing up 6 years ago! Lass knew that you would make a great asset in this underworld of crime, so she tried to kill the most important people in your life to weaken your spirit. And, for a long time, her plan worked. Are you going to let her control you again?)" Pikachu demanded while trying to voice some reason to his confused master.

Not knowing what Pikachu said, Giselle inquired. "This Lass person ruined your life?"

Ash's breaths became shorter and shorter. What were they doing? Trying to kill him? Those were some painful memories that he just wanted to bury and never think of again. But no! They had to bring it up! And Pikachu once again started reciting his opinions that Ash must have heard hundreds of times before. How did Misty's sour attitude turn into a conversation about Lass? "Here, can we get off this subject? Lass was just a girl that I once considered as a friend."

"Just an ex-friend, huh? It certainly didn't look like that from where I was sitting." Misty yelled sarcastically with just a pinch of spitefulness in her tone.

Ash blinked in utter shock. "You have it all wrong! Lass was just trying to gather information from me about us. After all, the Rebels are a threat to her."

"Gathering information? Are you kidding? She was flat out flirting with you, or were you too dumb to see it?" Misty mocked.

"Flirting?" Ash questioned as if the word was just recently added to the English language. "What are you talking about? She was just trying to use me in her own twisted game! Lass only thinks of us as her little toys that she can play with!"

"Excuses, excuses. Only a person as idiotic as yourself wouldn't see that she was flirting with you." Misty growled in response.

Ash clenched his fist in fury and roared. "What!" His anger almost got the best of him until he looked at the situation from a different perceptive. "And, besides, why would you even care?"

Misty gritted her teeth partly in anger and partly in embarrassment. How was she going to get out of this? "For your information, Ash, I don't care; I don't care if tomorrow is your last day on earth! Why don't you just jump off a cliff or something?" Misty blinked in surprise at her own words; she didn't mean to sound so harsh.

A sparkle of sorrow twinkled on Ash's face before he replaced it with an infuriated feeling of rage. "Well, I hope that you are the one with Stellar so that you can feel the agonizing pain of going crazy and killing yourself!"

"Stop this right now!" Brock yelled and interrupted the intense argument. Diving between the bickering pair, Brock persisted. "This fight is getting out of control! Look, if you want to quarrel like wild animals, then do it on your own time! Right now, we have to get to Cerulean."

After a brief moment, in which Ash and Misty just glared at one another, Ash groaned. "Come on, then. Let's get going." Placing Pikachu back on his shoulder, Ash walked ahead. He had barely taken three steps before the ground trembled beneath his feet. Rocks and other forms of debris started raining down on them while Ash yelled. "It's an earthquake!" His voice quivered as the earth soon stopped its violent shaking. The small rocks stopped falling as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The earthquake was over.

Getting over their initial shock, the Rebels quickly examined the area as if a monster was present in the tunnel. "Well, I'm glad that's over." Giselle murmured gratefully.

Ash, however, shook his head. "I wouldn't say that."

"Why not?" Giselle inquired, as a mixture of confusion and alarm slipped across her face.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "It has been my experience that when an earthquake occurs, in this mountain, it is always followed by a…."

"Rockslide?" Gary asked.

Ash nodded his head bewilderedly. "Yea, how did you know that?"

Gary pointed above. "Because the rocks on the ceiling are about to collapse."

No sooner was this said when the rock formations above started flying to the ground. At first, they fell one by one but later they came in the dozens. The group hurriedly ran ahead, avoiding the falling rocks in their way. Numerous paths flew out in front of them as they continued to run, not knowing where they were going. The rockslide probably only lasted a few moments, but it was enough… it was enough for the group to do the worst thing possible… to get lost in a volcano.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"(Get up Ash! Come on, get up!)" Pikachu squeaked as it gently shook Ash with its tiny paws. Ash flicked his eyes open and glanced around him, examining his surroundings. The place was no different than the tunnel that he was previously in; the same dirt walls, rocky ceiling and billowing blackness was still there. The only real difference was that the area was noticeably darker, even with Pikachu's powerful flash.

To the delight of his little pal, Ash started moving and noticed all the rocks surrounding him. He realized that the whole path was literally covered with large rocks; some were smaller than ants while others were so massive that were as wide as an average human was tall.

Ash grunted in pain as he lifted some heavy boulders off of his legs. He quickly examined his body, hoping against hope that he didn't injury himself severely in the rockslide. Fortunately, he couldn't spot any major gashes. Ash then sat up and faced his little pokemon. "Hey, Pikachu, are you ok?" After seeing a nod from the yellow rodent, Ash glanced around. "Where are the others?"

Pikachu then pointed over to a still figure only a few yards. Brushing off the dirt that had accumulated on his shirt, Ash managed to walk over to the lifeless person. Once Pikachu joined him, Ash could see that it was Misty, motionless, but still breathing. "Misty! Come on, wake up!" Ash nudged her shoulder hoping for a response. To his disappointment, she never even flinched a muscle. Taking her hand, he checked for a pulse and sighed. "I can barely feel a heartbeat. Gosh, I hope that she'll be all right."

Pikachu stared at Ash in surprise. Didn't he just say before that he didn't care if Misty died, or something like that? Instead of commenting about this fact to Ash, Pikachu simply kept his mouth shut. Humans had to be the strangest creatures on the planet. One minute, their fighting their heads off and the next they're worried to death about each other. Humans… he'll never understand them.

Misty moaned as she opened her eyes and gazed at Ash. "What's going on?"

Ash smiled at Misty. "Oh… just your average rockslide. I'll glad to see that you're ok."

Misty gazed at him in disbelief. "Didn't you say that you hoped that I would kill myself?"

Ash smiled in embarrassment as his face reddened. "Of all the things that I tell you, you choose that one to remember! Besides, what about your whole 'I wouldn't care if Ash falls off a cliff' speech."

Misty giggled. "Oh yea… that. Still say that you deserve it, though."

"I can't win with you, can I?" Ash groaned in mock frustration.

Deciding to change subjects, Misty inquired. "Where is the rest of our group?" She then forced herself to sit upright with extreme difficulty, not to mention pain.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Got me. I just awoke a few moments ago. Pikachu, you can see better than us. Can you see Brock, Gary or Giselle nearby?" Pikachu flared even brighter and made a 360º turn before shaking his little head from side to side. Ash lowered his head in disappointment. "I guess we'll have to find them not to mention a way out of here. Great… just great."

"Wait a second! Hold still." Misty ordered as she got on her knees and scuttled right next to Ash's side. Her main focus seemed to be on his head, particularly the right side of it, near the temple.

Ash followed her directions to the letter grew increasingly confused and nervous at Misty's strange behavior. What was she doing? Feeling the blood rush to his face, Ash muttered bewilderedly. "Um… Misty, what exactly are you doing? Ouch! That hurt!"

Misty stopped her activities and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that Ash, but it seems that you have a rather nasty cut here." Positioning her hand away from his head and into his vision, Ash could see that it had blood on it. Misty soon continued. "You shouldn't leave this wound exposed. I'm going to wrap a handkerchief around your head. This should help stop the bleeding for the moment. However, when we get back to Cerulean, you better see a doctor."

"Whatever you say Dr. Misty." Ash grinned and even saluted.

Misty playfully pushed him. "Ok, wise guy, enough with the jokes." Taking a handkerchief from her pocket Misty sighed. "Now, this is going to sting a bit." Placing the white cloth around his head, she tightly pulled the tips together, trying to tie a knot.

Meanwhile, Ash yelped in pain. "Ouch! Sting? You call that a sting?"

Much to Ash's displeasure, Misty managed to tie a small knot that was tight enough to hold the cloth in place. "What's the matter Ash? Can't take a little pain?"

Pikachu, who wasn't paying any attention to the scene until now, worriedly approached Ash. "(Ash? Are you ok? Do you have a headache?)"

Ash petted the little rat and shook his head. "I'm fine buddy, but what did you say about a headache?"

Pikachu grinned shyly, remembering that Ash still had trouble understanding him at that rapid pace of speech. "(I asked if you had a headache. A massive headache is one of the most common signs of Stellar, remember?)"

Ash stopped for a moment, searching his brain for that lost bit of information that he couldn't find before. "Headaches… you're right Pikachu! That's what it was!"

"What did Pikachu just say?" Misty asked, wishing that she could understand her pokemon as well as Ash could understand Pikachu.

"Well, Pikachu just reminded me that getting a massive headache is a major symptom of Stellar; something that I previously forgot." Ash quickly replied, summing it up in as few words as possible.

"Oh, ok." Misty replied drearily. After a brief moment of silence passed, Misty suggested. "Shall we start searching around?" Ash nodded and the pair rose to their feet and walked off with Pikachu lighting the way.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Why do I have a feeling that we are going around in circles?" Misty grumbled as she forced her stiff legs to stride further along this unknown trail.

Ash stopped and turned around to face Misty. "I know what you mean. We must have been traveling for a little over an hour."

"And I thought that this trip would only take 15 minutes!" Misty sighed in irritation, wishing that she were somewhere else now.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "That's only when you take the fastest route."

"So, we're lost?" Misty inquired hoping for a negative answer to her question.

"Without a doubt." Ash stated despondently as Pikachu nodded in agreement.

Misty shook in her head in frustration. "Great! Just great! How are we…"

"(You guys, shut up! I hear something ahead!)" Pikachu interrupted as he stiffened his body, ready for battle.

Ash and Misty immediately closed their mouths and kept as quite as possible, even though they had no idea what Pikachu was talking about. As the duo, or trio if you include Pikachu, staggered forward they began to hear some scuffling sounds, as if some creatures were scurrying out of harm's way. Screeching, squealing and shrieking noises fluttered around them to a point where they could almost pinpoint their numerous locations.

Misty, alarmed to say the least, quickened her pace until she was walking side by side with Ash. In a voice that was barely audible, Misty whispered into Ash's ear. "What's going on?"

Ash glanced around him as his memory started operating. In a soft voice, Ash sighed. "Misty, don't get alarmed but I think that we've wandered into a cave full of Zubats."

Misty's eyes widened in panic. "Wh…"

"Be quiet!" Ash quickly covered her mouth in order to silence her sudden outburst. "These pokemon have very good hearing and if we don't keep quiet, they will attack. Understand?"

Misty nodded as Pikachu increased its flash slightly so that the pair could see around them. The walls were literally blanketed with small purple bats that were apparently sleeping. They ranged in size from small babies that clung to their mothers to enormous creatures that could probably do some serious damage. Even though they stayed as quiet as a mouse scampering across the kitchen floor, some of the purplish bats still sensed their presence and screeched in fury. Fortunately, their cries couldn't summon the entire flock of bats to destroy the intruders.

"Pikachu, are we almost out of this Zubat colony?" Ash muttered to the furry rodent and was extremely relieved at the nod that he received from the pokemon. Continuing their silent walk, the group was beginning to notice that the racket seemed to be dying down. The walls' true natural brown color became more apparent and the layer of purple bats seemed to fade away into the shadows. Soon, the color purple was virtually nonexistent against the brown dirt walls of the cavern. In addition, the annoying squeaks from the bats vanished entirely from the air around them.

Misty sighed in relief. "Thank god that we are out of there! I hope that I never see those Zubats again!"

"For some reason, I have a feeling that your wish won't come true." Ash shook his head, talking more to himself than to Misty.

Their conversation soon terminated as they strolled down the dreary tunnel. Ash squinted his eyes and could make out something a little ways ahead. Pikachu, with his sharp eyesight also noticed it. Since Misty was obviously clueless about the interesting matter at hand, Ash whispered. "Misty, do you see something sparkling ahead?"

Misty concentrated on the little spot that Ash was pointing to, but then shook her head in regret. "Sorry Ash. I can't spot a thing."

Ash grinned slowly. "Just keep looking ahead."

Focusing her vision ahead, Misty prayed that it was daylight that they were heading to. Alas, she was soon to be disappointed. No brilliant rays of soft light shimmered ahead; instead, only more darkness clouded her vision. However, Misty did spot something sparkling like a radiant star on a cloudless night. Soon after, Misty could finally make out what was at the end of the tunnel. A dazzling underground lake glistened under Pikachu's flash and seemed to bubble with ferocity at being discovered by humans.

"Wow… it's beautiful." Misty remarked in awe as they reached a widened part of the cavern that held the glossy water. It rippled slightly as flecks of light bounced off its surface. The area itself was enormous. Giant boulders the size of trucks dotted the shoreline while its younger cousins, only the size of small houseplants, grew in gigantic clusters along the dirt walls. Misty kneeled down near to the water's edge and gazed in wonder at the beauty of the element that she admired so much in pokemon. Dangling her fingers in midair, Misty slowly dropped her hand towards the water in order to feel the cool shifting liquid flutter amid her fingertips. However, she was considerably startled as a rough hand grasped her wrist in a tight, firm grip and pulled her away from the breath-taking lagoon.

"Don't touch the water." Ash ordered in a deadly serious voice. To prove his point, Ash searched around and discovered a small, splintery piece of wood that was rotting nearby and was covered with green moss and other types of mold. He picked it up and placed it into the water. The lake seemed to frown in disgust at this new addition to its surface and bubbled with rage. An acidic fizz of boiling liquid steamed the log until the part that was previously underwater vanished into a sweltering hot steam that rose above the group and into the dark air. Ash soon lifted what was left of the log out of the water in order to survey the damage. Nearly half of the wood had sizzled away. "Now do you see why I stopped you?" Throwing the log away, he watched it twirl in midair for a moment before it came crashing down to the water's surface and dissolved into vapor. "And that could have been your hand."

Misty glanced down at her thin slivery fingers and shivered at the imaginary pain that she would have felt if her fingers had come any closer to that acidic deathtrap. "Indeed, that was awfully close." 

Ash then smiled to himself as if he knew something amusing that neither Misty nor Pikachu knew. "Yea, Misty, your fingers almost dissolved into mist."

Misty snickered at the silly pun and decided to use a silly pun of her own. "Well, I sure hope that this volcano doesn't erupt and spew ash all over us." With compassion in her eyes, Misty stopped the childish "pun war" by adding. "And thanks for the warning, but how did you know that the lake was acidic?"

"Well, I remembered that when volcanoes are active, lakes and other bodies of water around the area tend to be acidic." Ash stated and smiled back at Misty.

"And when was the last time you were near an active volcano?" Misty inquired curiously with a hint of sarcasm dipped in her voice.

"When you are a scientist, you tend to learn weird things." Ash simply commented, remembering the days when he used to be a Rocket scientist and had to listen to all those boring lectures on a variety of subjects, including volcanoes. He never realized that the stuff that he learned so long ago would actually come in handy one day. Gazing across the immense lake, Ash could make out numerous passages on the other side; passages that they had to progress to in order to get back on the right trail. "So, how are we going to get to the other side?"

Misty also noticed the numerous darkened passageways ahead and glanced around the edges of the lake. The shoreline was incredibly narrow at some points and it would be next-to-impossible to go around it. As Misty remembered her trusty pokemon, she smiled and jumped to her feet. "Leave that to me, Ash." Misty then reached to her belt and threw a red and white pokeball to the floor nearby. White light illuminated the cavern until it changed forms into a Dewgong. The seal-like pokemon was slightly confused at being on land rather than in the water, but it still waited patiently for Misty's next command. "Ok, Dewgong, use your ice beam attack to freeze this lake."

Dewgong nodded as it opened its jaws. A bright bluish-white ball materialized within its mouth, gathering energy for the attack. Then, it tilted its head forward and spewed the energy onto the lake. At the touch of Dewgong's attack, the water immediately hardened into ice. After spreading the cold beam across the lake, Dewgong panted, indicating the amount of energy it used to do such an attack. Misty smiled at the beautiful pokemon and recalled it back into its pokeball.

Ash clapped his hands together, seemingly both mocking and congratulating Misty at the same time. "Nice idea. Now, all we have to do is walk across." Ash placed his feet on the frozen lake and managed to take a few hesitant steps forward before stumbling and losing his balance. He hit the icy surface with a thud, and in embarrassment, rose to his feet, making sure that he didn't trip this time.

Misty giggled at the ridiculous scene. "More like slipping and sliding, hey?"

Ash growled at Misty. "Well, excuse me! This ice is a lot more slippery than you might think!"

Misty waved her hand in a taunting manner. "Oh please! Walking on ice is like walking along a dirt trail; it's easy. Anyone can do it… well, except you."

Whether Misty intentionally or unintentionally wanted Ash to get furious was unknown, but it was certainly clear that Ash was ready to blow up like Mt. Moon. "Oh yea! Well, if you think that it's so easy, then why don't you prove it?"

"(Come on guys, this is stupid. Let's stop this right now.)" Pikachu sighed trying to stop the bickering pair from fighting.

Misty ignored Pikachu and snarled back at Ash. "Prove it? I don't have to prove anything to you. My word is as good as anyone else."

"(Guys, arguing is stupid. Just chill out, all right?)" Pikachu's fruitless efforts weren't helping at all, though.

"Your word? Good? In your dreams, Misty!" Ash hollered back.

"It is too!" Misty yelled in total frustration.

Pikachu, who was slightly ticked off at the two for ignoring him, tried once again to stop the argument. "(Now, this activity is childish. Stop it!)"

"Is not!" Ash shouted, saying the only good comeback that he could think of.

"Is too!" Misty screamed in retaliation.

"Is not!" Ash bellowed angrily.

"(Is too… I mean shut up! Stop this fight right now!)" Pikachu cried to no avail.

"Is too!" Misty screeched, not knowing what in the world Pikachu just said.

"Is not!" Ash hollered, with fury pumping through his veins.

Pikachu sighed in irritation. "(I didn't want to do this but… thunderbolt!)" Pikachu released a wave of electricity in both of their directions, frying them to a crisp with raw energy.

Ash, who had recovered first from the attack, glared at Pikachu. "Pikachu! Why did you do that?"

Before Pikachu could state the obvious answer his question, Misty turned back to the entrance of the cave that they just came from. "Did you guys just hear something?"

Ash and Pikachu stopped in their tracks and focused their hearing. Small flapping and fluttering sounds could be heard along with several ear-pitching screams of rage. Ash shivered in fear as he recognized the noises. "It's that flock of Zubats. Run!"

Before Ash could even finish, dozens upon dozens of angry bats entered the cave. The group stood still in total fear for a moment, before they bounded onto the ice and tried to run away from the intimidating herd. However, running in panic and the slippery ice proved to be a deadly combination as Ash, Misty and Pikachu tripped and slid across the smooth frozen lake. Their momentum was so great that they easily shot ahead of the rapid bats. Unfortunately, they couldn't control their movements and started twirling around, chaotically, in dizzy circles. By the time they reached the end of the ice patch, the three were so woozy that they couldn't even see straight as they tried to recover from their dizziness. However, trying to regain their senses took time; enough time for the Zubats to catch up with them.

Ash quickly hopped to his feet and helped Misty up. Carrying Pikachu in his arm, who was still dazed, Ash glanced at all the tunnel entrances. "Which one?"

Misty saw three choices for escape and sighed in annoyance. "Like we have the time to decide… just pick one!"

Ash nodded and saw that the Zubats were almost upon them. Grabbing Misty by the hand, Ash ran down the middle passageway. Regrettably, the Zubats were still on their tail and Ash groaned. "Any bright ideas?"

Misty, who was slightly out of breath, shook her head. "If I had any, I would have used them already."

Only now did Pikachu recover from its wooziness and quickly surveyed the scene. The horde of Zubats were so close that they started clawing at Ash and Misty, drawing blood from their injured bodies. Pikachu barked in pure rage; no one hurts his friends and gets away with it. Squirming to escape from Ash's tight grasp, Pikachu jumped on his shoulders. Balancing and concentrating at the same time, Pikachu unleashed a powerful dome of electricity that materialized around Ash and Misty while running. Any Zubat foolish enough to try to break the wall of energy was given a tremendous shock that seemed to sizzle down its spine and paralyze the creature.

Finally realizing Pikachu's actions, Ash slowed down to a stop and smiled at his pokemon. "That's lightning shield! Good idea." Pausing for just a moment, Ash continued. "But you can't keep this up forever. You are going to have to use your ultimate attack."

Pikachu gasped in astonishment at Ash. "(But Ash! Then both of you will be it mortal danger! You two could be seriously hurt by my attack!)"

Ash calmed the rodent by simply patting it on its head. "Look, Pikachu, I know that this attack hasn't been perfected by you, but you have to try. There is no other way that we can face this whole clan of Zubats through other methods. First, stop this shield." Following Ash's directions, Pikachu stopped the shield as the enormous clan of Zubats advanced forward. "Now, focus. Summon all of your electrical power but don't release it yet."

Pikachu quivered as the power only wielded by pokemon sparked uncontrollably off its cheeks. Misty soon tugged on Ash's hands in worry. "Ash! They are ready to attack again!"

Ash moaned at the disturbance and simply shot a warning glance in Misty's direction. "Ok, Pikachu, don't free your energy just yet. Now, imagine all that power shooting straight ahead and encircling every one of those Zubats." Seeing that Pikachu was more than ready, Ash pointed towards the flock of wicked bats. "Pikachu, lightning beam attack, now!"

Pikachu sizzled in concentration and liberated thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity towards the incoming clan of bats. A ray of yellow light, literally composed of electricity, flew towards the bats, the whole entire flock of them. The light was so intense, it paralyzed the Zubats at the very end of the group and dissolved the Zubats in close range to a point where their bodies exploded and rained down on the cave floor. Thousands, perhaps millions, of purple bats flew to the ground either dead beyond recognition or barely alive through sheer will and virtue.

Ash and Misty opened their eyes in amazement at the scene. It looked like a brutal war had just been fought for they observed the blood soaked earth and the numerous bodies that dotted the landscape. Ash shook his head, half in happiness that Pikachu got the attack right and half in sadness at the death of so many creatures in one blast. "Pikachu… you did it." These simple words seemed to express all the emotion that he presently felt bubbling inside of him. Pikachu smiled at his trainer before dropping to the ground for the power of the attack was incredibly exhausting. Ash started to run to Pikachu's side, but was surprised to find that something was holding him back. Ash turned and realized that he was still holding Misty's hand. Letting go of his grip, Ash's face turned hot with embarrassment as he raced over to his beloved pokemon. Cuddling Pikachu in his arms, Ash sighed. "Poor thing… he fainted. This attack took a lot out of him."

Misty simply nodded and stared at the gory scene, which was now cast in darkness because of the absence from Pikachu's flash. "Indeed." Taking a pokeball out, Misty threw it to the ground and yelled. "Go Clefairy!" A pink ball with two arms, two legs, a humanoid face and a big puffy curly tail emerged.

"A Clefairy? I thought that you liked water pokemon, Misty?" Ash questioned, looking at the cute pink creature that almost seemed to resemble a fairy with its sweet face and gentle eyes.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there are always a few exceptions to every rule." Turning to Clefairy, Misty commanded. "Clefairy, since Pikachu has fainted, use your flash to light the way for us." The angelic pokemon did so as a burst of light emitted from its tiny body, lighting the whole area in the process. As, they were about to depart, Misty, noticed something shimmering nearby one of the dead bats. Approaching it, Misty saw that it was some sort of metal tag."Hey Ash, check this out."

Ash advanced towards her and examined the object. He gasped in recognition at the tag and gazed back at Misty. "Misty, this is a Serpent tag."

"What?" Misty questioned, wondering what exactly Ash meant by that.

"This is a tag used by the Serpents to identify their pokemon." Ash sighed and shook his head. "That means that this pokemon was owned by the Serpents."

"Ash, look." Misty pointed towards other dead bats in the area. "They all have metal tags on them." Suddenly frightened by the new information, Misty quivered. "That means that _all of these Zubats belonged to the Serpents."_

Ash nodded solemnly. "You're right… but why would they purposely placed these Zubats in this mountain? Unless it was… to attack us…"

"You mean that this was a trap from the start?" Misty shuddered in disbelief at the evil ways of this organization that she only recently learned about.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "This whole attack was a setup, yes, but I seriously doubt that they meant to split us up and get us lost; it would be way too risky to create a rockslide."

Misty groaned in frustration. "Then they were probably just using these poor creatures for cruel experiments! Just using them! Those bats probably all had Stellar! They are innocent creatures; how can people do such horrible things?"

Ash blinked in surprise. Misty was getting incredibly upset; he had never her seen her so upset before… well, unless she was arguing with him. "Misty, calm down!"

Misty's eyes blazed red with rage. "Calm down! Calm down! This is injustice! How dare they put us through all this torture! Unbelievable!"

Moving out of the blood-soaked earth, Ash gently placed Pikachu on the ground before walking up to Misty. "Misty, come on. The only way to stop these people is by making sure that they can't do this to others."

"And how is that going to help those poor Zubats over there, huh? They're dead thanks to the fact that the Serpents placed them here! Pokemon weren't meant to be treated like people's slaves!" Misty cried, hot with fury that pumped throughout her entire body. A combination of panic, fear, frustration and anger all proved to turn Misty into a truly terrifying sight.

"Misty! Calm down!" Grabbing her wrist, Ash shouted, trying his best to pacify this mad woman. "We will avenge their deaths, okay? You can't get so worked up like this! Experiences like this can do this to a lot of people. You have to control your temper!"

Misty desperately tried to flee from Ash's grip but she might as well be trying to reach Pluto with only one stick of dynamite. "Let me go! I am fine, all right! I… just let me go!"

Ash, however grabbed her other wrist and only tightened his grip. "Misty, you are having a nervous breakdown. I know that this is a traumatic experience for you; it is for me too, but the only way that we are going to get out of this is by staying calm."

"Let me go!" Misty ordered and continued to struggle under his grasp.

Taking a deep breath, Ash shook his head. "Only if we stay calm can we figure out a plan to get out of here. Please Misty, stop this right now. I won't let you go until you settle down."

"Ok, ok." Misty moaned in defeat and stopped her fruitless struggling. "I'm calm now, all right? It's just that…"

"Just what?" Ash interrupted with a mixture of worry and confusion blended in his voice.

As Ash released his grip on her, Misty placed one of her hands to her head. Keeping her eyes shut, half in pain and half in avoiding Ash's gaze, Misty whispered. "I have a major headache."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"This place is so dark. I wish that we had a torch of some kind." Giselle quivered in fear of the unknown and unseen creatures that were in the area.

Gary nodded. "Yea, same here. It really would make the this walk a little faster." Turning around, Gary could barely make out the outline of Giselle under the cover of a blanket of shadows. They had only awoken a few minutes ago and their hopefully search for the others proved to be futile. Gary sighed as he saw yet another piece of wood, but like the others, it was one of the worst things that they could use as a torch. The wood was damp and encased in a thick layer of mold and fungus.

"Hey, Gary, check it out." Giselle called and smiled in the darkness, even though this action went completely unnoticed by Gary.

Gary turned his head and gasped in amazement… ahead of them was a light, a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. "All right! We made it!"

"Come on, Gary! Freedom is just a few steps ahead!" Giselle shouted in glee as the two started sprinting towards the small twinkle of daylight. Every single step they took seemed to widen the dot of light until they could see trees, grass and a dirt path ahead. It wasn't before long before the pair raced straight onto to the dirt path and was blinded by the light of the sun. "I never thought that the sun would feel so good."

Gary grinned. "Yea, this area almost seems magical." Once his eyes adjusted to the dazzling light echoing from the sun, Gary's practical mind set to work. "Ok, it appears that we are the first ones to reach the other side of the mountain. Now, we ought to wait here for the others…"

"Um, Gary" Giselle interrupted and pointed a little ways away. "I think that there is something that you should see over there."

Gary simply waved off her attempts and continued to discuss his thoughts, more to himself than to Giselle. "Ash, Misty and Brock should be arriving soon and, if we are lucky, we can reach Cerulean before it turns dark."

Once again, Giselle tried to motion Gary away from his one-sided conversation and over to the object that had caught her attention. "This is really important, Ga…"

"No time for that. Let's see… where was I? Oh yea… reach Cerulean before dark. Then we all have to visit the local hospital in order to see which of us is infected. I'm betting that a simple cat-scan will do it, although I will have to talk to Ash about that…"

"Gary!" Giselle shouted impatiently and dragged him towards the object that caught her attention in the first place. "Just look." She had brought him over to a sign that he hadn't noticed before. "It says 'Pewter City: 10 miles'. You know what that means? It means that we have been traveling in the wrong direction for God-knows-how-long!"

Gary stared at her in utter confusion. "You mean that we aren't on the other side of Mt. Moon?" Shaking his head in defeat, Gary sighed. "This isn't good."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Brock groaned as he opened his eyes to the darkness… nothing but darkness; it was as if someone had turned off the lights. As Brock raised his head, he realized that his whole body was covered with gashes that were still oozing with blood. He also noticed that a large boulder was resting near his head. Gathering from the throbbing in his head, he had probably received a concussion thanks to the rock.

Brock then slowly rose and started searching around the area, but this proved to be pointless because of the lack of light. "Ash! Misty! Gary! Giselle! Is anyone out there?" Hearing no answer, Brock started to get worried. Where was everyone? Was he all by himself?

Shivers ran up and down his spine as he grasped the obvious truth: he was alone. He might be the only one who survived that rockslide… no. Pushing that thought aside, Brock tried to make his frantic mind focus. He had to find the others. They will be alive and the five of them will get out of this volcano… hopefully.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Please tell me that you're joking." Ash pleaded, praying that she wasn't saying what he thought that she was saying.

Misty, however, only slowly shook her head. "I really wish that I was."

Ash moved over to the dirt wall and started staring at it hoping against hope that this was just a dream. "A headache means nothing. Even I have a headache now just listening to you rant and rave about everything."

"Are you trying to imply something?" Misty growled in aggravation.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I really need to get out of here. Being near you is dangerous to my sanity."

"Me? Oh! Ash, when we get out of here, remind me to pull out every little hair from your head." Misty threatened and glared at her teammate.

Ash placed his hand on head, thinking about their current situation. How were they going to get out of here? "Ok, we have no time for this. Let's just keep moving."

"Hello… Ash? Isn't that pointless? You said yourself that we're completely lost. Let's just make things easy on both of us and just get it over with." Misty winced at her own words.

Ash diverted his attention from the wall over to the fiery redhead. She wasn't planning on doing anything stupid, was she? "Just what are you saying?"

"Death. I'd rather die right here then wandering through a desolate tunnel for a few hours knowing that we can never escape." Misty slid her body against the wall until she was sitting down on the dirt floor.

"I can't believe you. You are so weak!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs in utter frustration.

"What!" Misty cried in anger for the insult and in bewilderment at Ash's weird timing for an insult.

Ash slammed his fist against the wall and shot a cold, furious glare in her direction. "You are going to take the easy way out. Do you know how many times I wanted to drink pure acid or slam a knife through my throat? How dare you! Over my dead body you are going to do that!" His anger quickly cooled to frustration as he sat down in order to be eye-level with her. "You know the reason why I haven't done it? And believe me, I have tried… After many meaningless years I realized something. It wasn't my time yet. For some reason or another, I am needed on this planet now. And so are you… this isn't our fate."

"How do you know this?" Misty sighed and met Ash's eyes with an intense stare. "I really don't want to go on anymore."

"Please Misty, don't say that. I don't know how I know this. In fact, I'm just as lost as you are. That's why we have to brave it together. People outside this mountain are going to suffer, perhaps are already suffering due to this horrendous disease. They are counting on us." Ash spoke as his throat throbbed with emotion. How could she think of suicide at a time like this? The last person that he would ever except, or ever want to except, would be Misty. "Let's make a deal. I promise that I will never give up on life or this mission only, in turn, if you don't." He then tentatively reached out his right hand. "Deal?"

Misty gazed at his hand for a while until she slowly lifted her own hand. "Deal." With that they shook on it.

Ash then smiled a moment later. "You know what? I think I like this deal stuff! Can we make a deal where we stop fighting with each other?"

Misty grinned and then shook her head. "Don't think so Ashy. Besides, where would be the fun in that?"

"Ashy? Hey! Stop using that name! You know how much I hate it!" Ash whined in annoyance.

Misty tried to suppress a smile that was forming on her lips by jumping to her feet and playfully messing up Ash's hair. "Oh, lighten up Ashy! Now come on and let's find a way out of here."

Ash quickly smoothed back his hair, careful not to move the handkerchief that was still attached to his head. "Don't touch the hair! For that, it's payback time!" Ash swiftly hopped to his feet and grabbed Pikachu before he raced over to Misty, trying to mess up her hair.

"Get away from me!" Misty exclaimed as she sprinted further down the tunnel followed by Ash.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Do you even know where we are going?" Giselle inquired as she quickened her pace in order to match Gary's.

Gary shook his head and shoved the torch into the darkness. Their unfortunate luck in coming out on the wrong side of the mountain did yield a fluke of good luck: this torch. After he found a cigarette lighter that someone had carelessly thrown on the trail, Giselle happened to find a nice dry piece of wood. With these two items, they managed to create a torch and now they could actually seen within the darkened tunnel. Gary then sighed apprehensively as they approached an intersection in the pathway. In all, there were three large paths and two other small paths nearby in which only small pokemon could fit through. "Ok, any idea of which way to go?"

Giselle shrugged her shoulders. "I can now see how the group got split up in the first place." Trying her best to recall the frightful scene from before, Giselle struggled to remember which path they both ran through. However, she was out of luck; her memory was temporarily out of order. "Do you remember which path we took before?"

Gary sighed and pointed left. "I think I remember running towards the left side."

"Then, should we go that way again?" Giselle inquired.

Gary shook his head. "No, don't you remember seeing the end of the tunnel before we started walking the wrong way? It's a dead end!"

Giselle searched her memory and smiled in humiliation. "Oh yea… forgot about that." Turning towards the middle path and the right path, Giselle groaned. "That leaves us with a 50% chance of taking the right path."

Gary stared hard at the two tunnels. "One path will lead us… who knows where, while the other path will lead us out of this mountain. Which one is the right path?"

"I know! Let's take the right path!" Giselle shouted in glee.

Gary glanced at her confusedly. "And how do we know which path is the right path?"

"The right one, of course! The path on the right side is the right or correct path, get it?" Giselle smiled at her silly joke.

Gary moaned. "Ok, then, we will take the path on the right side, if that's what you want." Ignoring the left and middle paths, the pair took the right path, which they hoped would lead them to the right trail right out of the volcano.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Find… destroy… kill…

It is often said that the mind is a horrible thing to waste. Well, the person who stated that clearly couldn't understand the situation at hand. In this case, we see a person who is struggling against some unknown force at hand, an unseen force that lurks deep within their very own brain. The more this person seems to try and defeat the force, the more they realize the fear and angry that is welled up inside of them, just waiting to be released.

Their hands quiver, knowing all to well what was really going on inside of them. They knew that this wasn't a strange behavior that suddenly popped up for no reason; they knew that it was the infamous disease. This person clearly was no fool. However, they never knew the pain or the suffering caused by this horrible disease until now…

*~*~*~*~*~*

Giselle sighed as she watched the embers of the torch lick the wooden shaft. She was so desperately confused not to mention bored. How long would it take for them to get out of this stinking volcano?

Gary switched the torch from his left to his right hand, trying to peer into the blackness that surrounded them. However, the view was the same as before: a dirt tunnel that seemed to stretch forever into the darkness. With the help of the flame, Gary could see a sharp turn coming up. As silence echoed across the cavern, Gary could swear that he heard some footsteps. But, being the rational person that he was, Gary dismissed it as his own imagination. What were the chances that he would meet anyone here?

Giselle continued to walk right behind Gary as they approached the sharp turn. Her ears perked when she heard something. Was it an animal? A pokemon? No, it seemed to be something larger, but it couldn't be a… human, could it? "Gary, did you just hear that?"

Gary slowed his pace and strained his ears. However, he didn't have to, because the source of the noise emerged from the corner and collapsed onto the ground just in front of the pair. Gary's sharp eyes quickly surveyed the body and noticed the bad shape that this human was in. However, that was the last thing on his mind. One continuously repeating word… no, name… played over and over in his head. In a soft breath, Gary released this name from his lips as utter shock and surprise burned in his aching voice. "Brock?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Misty, do you happen to have some revive with you?" Ash asked as he quickly glanced down at Pikachu.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. Her hair that had once been neatly combed was flying out all over her head. It was clear that Ash did, in fact, 'pay her back'. "Um… let me check." Misty then rummaged through her numerous pockets and smiled. "You're in luck. I just happen to have a small bottle with me." She then produced a tiny bottle that held a greenish liquid.

Ash stopped walking and turned around. Misty then placed the lid of the bottle in Pikachu's open mouth and poured the formula down his throat. After a few brief moments, Pikachu opened its tiny eyes and he glanced around confusedly. "(What's going on? Where are those Zubats?)"

Ash smiled and stroked his little pokemon as if he were a pet dog. "Don't worry, the Zubats are gone, wiped out by your attack." Glimpsing back at Misty, Ash added. "And thanks Misty for the revive."

Misty shrugged off the compliment and replied. "Anything I can do to help."

Pikachu grinned as his eyes drifted off into space. "(You mean that I really did it? I completed that attack successfully?)"

Ash sighed at his silly little pokemon. "Yes, Pikachu. That whole Zubat clan was destroyed, more or less. You should be proud of yourself."

Pikachu jumped out of his arms and onto the ground. Pride from the fact that he performed the attack correctly, clogged his arteries as he posed for battle. Kicking his little feet and paws at an imaginary enemy, a smile the size of Texas graced his lips. However, his egotist behavior took a lot out him and he was soon out of breath once again.

Ash giggled at his pokemon's actions. "Pikachu, remember, revive only helps fainted pokemon recover, but not to their full health. Take it easy, ok?" Receiving a nod from the yellow rodent, Ash continued. "I guess we should keep moving."

"(Guys, which way?)" Clefairy inquired as it looked ahead.

Ash, Misty and Pikachu all glanced questionably at the pink creature. However, their attention was soon diverted to the fact that the tunnel splits into two paths.

"Oh no! Not another fork in the road! Now which way do we go?" Misty groaned as she pointed helplessly at the two passageways.

"You got me… maybe we could take the left path…" Ash's voice soon trailed off and a grave look graced his face. "Hey Clefairy, dim your flash please?" He mumbled as he focused his attention on the left trail.

Clefairy, although a little confused, followed Ash's orders since it could see that he was friends with its trainer. Misty raised a curious eyebrow. "Ash, what's wrong?"

Ash was keeping his eyes shut as if deep in thought. He then reopened them and stared out at the left route. "It's just that I got this weird feeling…"

Unfortunately, Ash was cut off by a hoarse voice coming from the left path. "Are you sure that they're going to be coming this way?"

Answering the voice, a feminine tone floated through the air. "Our boss said that he and the rest of his friends are in Mt. Moon right now. Since most of the tunnels lead to this place, we just have to wait until they arrive, okay Win?"

Placing a finger to his lips, Ash stealthily darted into the cave with Pikachu trailing close behind him. Realizing the potential danger, Misty recalled Clefairy back into its pokeball and followed the two into the tunnel.

Win growled in response at his female companion. "Julie, they should have arrived by now!"

Julie shrugged her shoulders. "They could have gotten lost…"

By now, Ash, Misty and Pikachu were within eyesight of the pair. The guy was sitting impatiently on a rock grumbling something to himself. His short black hair bounced from his head while his intimating height was apparent even in his sitting position. Sharp brown eyes were glazed over in boredom, as if he desperately wanted to destroy something… or someone.

The girl was constantly glancing at the many tunnels entrances in the region, as if she was being hunted by the shadows that lurked around the area. Unfortunately, her relatively poor eyesight happened to miss Ash, Misty and Pikachu. With her chocolate-colored hair cast in a simple ponytail and her plain face, one could have regarded her as a shy innocent young adult. However, a flash of crimson hatred flared within her lovely blue-green eyes. If any compassion ever existed in those devilish pupils, it had vanished many years ago.

Risking exposure, Ash bounded out of the safety of the darkened tunnel, with Pikachu by his side, and behind a vulnerable rock within the immense cavern. Although Win and Julie were barely a few yards from him, they never even noticed him. Misty soon followed but she wasn't as fortunate as Ash. Julie's sharp ears managed to sense Misty's movements. "Win, did you just hear something?" Julie questioned as she jumped to her feet.

Win shook his head from side to side and dived to his feet as well. "Nope, but you always were more observant than me."

Julie carefully examined the cavern and her eyes rested on the rock where the duo was hiding behind. Taking a pistol from her pocket, Julie fired her deadly weapon at the rock. Seeing this, Ash and Pikachu dived behind another rock nearby while Misty tried getting back to the darkened tunnel. Regrettably, luck just wasn't smiling down on her. Misty tripped and landed face-first on the dirt floor as the rock split apart.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Win hissed like a hungry animal waiting for the right moment to pounce on its victim.

"It looks like this pest was spying on us." Julie growled.

A perky smile adorned Win's lips as he coldly stated. "And you know what Serpents do to meddling pests."

Julie nodded and leveled her deadly pistol towards Misty. Eyeing the gun, Misty gazed pleadingly at the pair and froze on the spot. Licking her lips, Julie snarled. "Destroy them."

Misty cringed at these words and waited for the lethal blast from the malicious weapon. She then shut her eyes but was rather surprised at the delay that proceeded. When she reopened her eyes, she glanced back at the Serpent agents. Misty was quite startled to find Julie rooted to the same spot while her gun lay a few yards away from her with a rock covering it.

Julie narrowed her eyes and turned in the direction that the rock was thrown. "Whoever did that will pay severely for their actions!"

Ash rose from his hiding spot while Pikachu was perched on his shoulders. With his arms crossed over his chest, Ash sincerely was a horrifying sight. His face hardened and his eyes seemed to flash red in rage. "Step away from her."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Brock, are you ok?" Giselle called with concern draped in her tone.

At this gentle voice, Brock blinked and glanced up at Giselle with a perplexed expression dawning his face. "Giselle, is that you?" Seeing Gary sitting right next to her, Brock added. "And Gary?"

Gary sighed in relief. "Good, you're awake."

Brock gazed at his bruised body and the pain hit him like sledgehammer slamming repeatedly against his head and the rest of his body. Lying back down, Brock groaned. "Oh… what in the world happened?"

Giselle smiled weakly at the irony. "That's funny, that was what we were going to ask you. Gary and I found you knocked out and you were in pretty bad shape."

Although the pain continued to gush to his mind, Brock forced his memory to operate. "I remember waking up alone and slightly scared. After searching blindly around the area, I felt incredibly lightheaded. I think that I tried to continue onwards… but the next thing that I know, I'm sitting here in a daze."

Gary and Giselle exchanged concerned looks to one another. He must have been hit pretty badly by that rockslide.

"You must have lost a lot of blood and passed out." Giselle concluded. "Take it easy, Brock. We don't want you to pass out again."

Changing the subject, Gary asked. "Brock, can you walk?" Knowing that he needed the help, Gary offered his hand for support.

Brock took it and shakily stood on his legs. After a moment of trying to balance on his feet, Brock managed not only to stand but also to take a few small steps forward. "I think that I'll manage."

The trio progressed onward, at a slightly slower pace thanks to Brock. As Brock tried his best to continue onwards, Gary and Giselle kept silent in worry for their friend. Thanks to the group's lack of concentration, they didn't see the immense cavern that they were heading to. They never saw the dozen of raging candles; they never saw the people gathered ahead; they never sensed the huge fight that was about to occur. Only did the sound of a shot from a gun snap the trio back into reality as they sprinted ahead into the large cavern.

"What was that?" Brock asked with fear trembling in his voice.

His question was soon answered when they reached the end of the tunnel. Inside was an unusual scene. A girl, Julie, was angrily glaring at Ash in the corner while a guy, Win, was doing likewise. Misty lay frozen with fright on the ground and slowly managed to rise to her feet. The disruption caused by the trio's entry instigated the other four in the room to stare at them for a moment.

Slowly approaching them, Misty inquired. "Brock? Gary? Giselle? What are you all doing here?"

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "I was about to ask you the same question, Misty."

Win frowned at the scene and hollered. "Ok, now that the reunion is all over, it's time for you all die." Taking out a gun, Win aimed it directly at Ash's head. "Sweet dreams."

Before the shot was fired, Julie angrily grabbed the gun away from her partner. "Are you crazy? The Boss specifically ordered us not to kill Ash!"

Ash glanced in complete confusion at the pair. How did they know his real name? Most people only knew him as AK, especially the Serpents. How did this valuable information leak out?

"You mean that's Ash?" Win pointed in Ash's direction, surprised to say the least.

Julie furiously punched him in the stomach. "Who else would it be? Who else carries a Pikachu on his shoulder rather than in a pokeball like the Boss said? Think about it, idiot!"

Stepping over the rock, Ash screeched. "So, if you aren't here to kill me, then what are you here for?"

Win narrowed his eyes at Ash. He didn't like this guy one bit. "Simply to capture you and your friends and let the Boss decide what to do with you." Glaring at Misty, he added. "And to terminate meddling pests."

"Sorry to ruin your plans, but I'm afraid that we aren't going to give up that easily." Ash unsympathetically testified.

"Then let's solve this like real trainers would in a pokemon battle. I doubt that you and that puny little Pikachu can dare match my power." Julie challenged as she threateningly raised a pokeball in her hand.

Ash grinned at the ridiculous threat. Julie really doesn't know what she was in for. Enlarging a pokeball from his belt, Ash yelled. "Fine, if that's the way you want it. I choose…"

"(Pikachu.)" Pikachu simply stated its name and jumped off of Ash, ready for combat.

Ash stared at Pikachu, incredibly baffled by his behavior. He thought that Pikachu was too weak to fight this battle. "Pikachu? Are you sure that you want to fight?"

Pikachu nodded. "(Without a doubt. No one calls me puny and gets away with it.)"

Ash giggled slightly at Pikachu's persistence. Pikachu could be just as stubborn as him at times. "Ok, Pikachu, give it all you've got."

Julie grinned devilishly. She was hoping that Ash would choose Pikachu, for she had a surprise for that little rodent. "All right, let's make this a sudden-death match. One-on-one. Go Sandslash!" A pokemon that resembled a cross between a mole and a porcupine, tumbled out of the ball and crossly gazed at it enemies. Yellow fur covered its body while two eyes and an enlarged nose thundered across its face. Two scrawny little arms and legs spouted out of its body as two fierce claws manifested themselves on each limb. However, the most noticeable feature about this pokemon was the wicked bed of spikes that emerged from its back. It was clear that this was going to be a tough match.

Ash groaned. This was something that he wasn't expecting. Sandslashes are a ground-type pokemon meaning that any electric attack was practically ineffective against it. This was bad news…really bad news. However, Ash did have a chance. He had raised Pikachu to such a high level that he could use that to his advantage. "Ok, Pikachu, use your agility."

Pikachu rapidly increased its speed and ran extraordinarily fast around its opponent. A blur of yellow circled around Sandslash as it glanced bewilderedly at its trainer. After a moment of pondering, Julie shouted. "Sandslash, use your slash attack on that rat."

Although the ground pokemon had trouble with this attack due to Pikachu's speed, it managed to aim one slash attack accurately at Pikachu. Pikachu flew off its feet and hit the ground with a thud. Ash cringed as his strategy failed. He realized that Pikachu couldn't use its agility now, even if it wanted to. However, knowing how weak Pikachu was at the moment, Ash decided that using another defensive attack would be the best way to go. "Hang in there Pikachu! Double-team attack!"

Pikachu smiled and formed two other exact copies of itself. Sandslash, baffled once again, glanced back at Julie. "Sandslash, poison-sting attack all those three Pikachus!"

Sandslash nodded and delivered three spikes from its body. The first two blazed right past the hologram-image of the yellow rodent, while the third one hit its mark. Pikachu squealed in pain as it collapsed to the floor.

Ash was froth with worry. It was clear that Pikachu was poisoned, a fact that was detrimental to his chances of winning this battle. As he tried to think of another plan, Julie called her next attack. "Sandslash, fury swipes!"

The pokemon raised its paws and furiously clawed at Pikachu's body. Small red gashes materialized on Pikachu's swollen body. Things didn't look good for the golden rodent.

Win, who was watching the fight in silence, suddenly grinned. "Hey, Julie, order Sandslash to use earthquake."

Julie eyes brightened merrily. "You're right. That Pikachu won't stand a chance."

"Are you crazy? An earthquake could easily kill Pikachu in its weakened condition!" Misty shouted from the sidelines as anxiety lined her cheeks.

Julie smiled wickedly. "Well, we did say that this was a sudden-death match. Sandslash, use your earthquake attack!"

Sandslash nodded and prepared for its ultimate attack. Jumping high into the air, Sandslash spun around fell towards the ground. As gravity pulled it downwards, Sandslash used the momentum to increase the strength of its attack. When the pokemon hit the ground, it laid its fist upon the hard earth. The ground sizzled with energy as a giant crack in the ground opened up and slithered to Pikachu's side.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Ash screamed helplessly as anger and worry echoed from his face. He then closed his eyes, but when he reopened them, they weren't the same shade of coffee brown that they were before; they were slivery blue. Dust swirled in the air as Pikachu was engulfed in a small bubble of a similar color. The earthquake attack harmlessly bounced off the bubble and had absolutely no effect on Pikachu whatsoever. The bubble soon popped as Ash blinked in utter confusion along with everyone else in the room. His eyes soon returned to their normal brown tint as Ash gazed at Pikachu. It seemed that Pikachu not only wasn't harmed by the attack, it actually seemed to be healthier. The poison that had momentarily drugged it vanished and his energy seemed to increase.

"What in the world just happened?" Win cried as he accusingly pointed a finger in Ash's direction. "What did you do to that Pikachu?"

"Nothing, you idiot! How could he do anything to Pikachu if he never even touched his pokemon?" Gary raced to Ash's side.

Misty did likewise followed by Giselle and Brock. "Yea, so why don't you just admit that you lost!"

"What?" Julie inquired and looked at her own pokemon. She was horrified to see that Sandslash had fainted; she was so busy focusing on Pikachu's amazing dodge and recovery that she never even noticed her own pokemon. "Sandslash? Are you ok?" Sandslash lay completely devoid of movement on the floor; it was almost as if Sandslash was assaulted by some unseen force for it could barely move its lungs in order to breath. "Return Sandslash." The pokemon evaporated from the cave and returned to its confinement. It was clear that whatever aided Pikachu only caused pain to Sandslash.

Ash continued to stare dumbly at the battle scene. His mind raced with thoughts. What in the world just happened? What was that incredibly bizarre feeling he felt when Pikachu was saved and Sandslash was getting creamed? Something had just happened that soared above his understanding, something incredibly amazing and terrifying at the same thing. But what was it?

Pikachu snapped out of its confusion and gazed back at Ash. "(Hey Ash! Look, I won!)" Pikachu bounded into Ash's arms and crawled straight to his shoulder.

Realizing their chance, Giselle cried. "Guys, they are distracted. Let's make a run for it."

"I don't think so girly." Win coldly stated and pointed a gun in her direction.

Backing up her partner, Julie produced another gun and released the safety. "We can very easily forget our boss' orders, you know."

The Rebels glanced nervously at one another, except for Ash. Forcing his eyes shut, a silvery blue light hailed from the ground and engulfed the group just as Win and Julie began to fire. The strange bubble that soon formed blocked the shots and slowly compressed the group into a smaller and smaller space until it was nothing more than a dot in the air, barely an atom to be seen through a powerful microscope. By the time, Win and Julie realized what just happened, the Rebels had vanished from thin air.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The group glanced in shock as a giant bubble encased them and twinkled with energy. Barely a second had passed before the walls of the bubble disintegrated into bright sunlight. As the group shielded their eyes from the intense glow, they smelt the fresh smell of grass and the scent of pine trees. When their eyes adjusted to the light, the Rebels found themselves situated on a dirt path with a mixture of forest and grassy plains surrounding their sides.

"Where are we?" Brock asked anxiously with fear simmering in his voice.

"On the other side of Mt. Moon." Misty breathlessly stated as she pointed behind them, towards the menacing volcano in the distance.

"How did we get here?" Giselle questioned as she bobbed her head from side to side, wondering if the "Pewter Sign" was nearby. Fortunately, it wasn't around.

Gary shook his head. "This is impossible. Truly impossible." Seeing Pikachu, Gary added. "Pikachu, do you know teleport?" The movement of the pokemon's head, from side to side, was enough to convince Gary.

"It could have been the work of a pokemon… although I don't know a pokemon that could perform those attacks to that degree…" Brock stated perplexedly.

Pikachu then gazed at Ash and noticed his silence and bewilderment. "(Ash, do you know what just happened?)"

"No! No, I swear, I don't!" Ash shrieked in pandemonium. His eyes glazed back in alarm and his body quivered hysterically.

Ignoring the strange looks coming from the others, Pikachu sighed. "(Ash, this is too much of a coincidence. Isn't this the same…)"

Covering Pikachu's mouth, Ash angrily glared at the pokemon. "Shut up Pikachu."

"Ash, are you all right?" Giselle compassionately questioned.

Ash managed to remove all signs of shock, panic, anger and fear from his face when he answered. "Yea, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Absolutely fine. 100% fine." Seeing the doubting faces surrounding him, Ash added. "Well, maybe 75% fine. I guess I'm a little tired… that's it… tired… yeah… just very tired… need some rest."

Misty raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Ash couldn't lie if his life depended on it. "Ash cut the lies out. Why are you so jumpy? And what in the world just happened?"

Ash fiddled with his fingers. "Ok, I honestly didn't think that would _ever_ happen. Ever…" His mind wandered off for a moment before he continued. "It was just like that… that… um… like… that dream."

"What dream?" Brock blinked in surprise.

Ash bit his lip and mumbled. "Well, a few days ago, I had this dream."

"And…" Misty uttered trying to encourage Ash to go on.

Ash continued nervously fidgeting with his fingers. A long pause lasted before Ash spoke. "It started out in a cave in which Pikachu and I were there, battling for some reason or another. The cave looked incredibly similar to the one that we were just in. The next thing that I know, Pikachu and me are in this forest with a dirt road leading through it, like we all are now. I can't really remember the rest of the dream, though."

A moment passed while the group tired to interpret the strange events from the dream. Finally, Gary whispered. "Are you saying that you dreamt that battle in Mt. Moon and of this area before?"

Pikachu slowly searched his mind for a moment before declaring."(But, Ash, you never told me about a dream like that before…)"

Ash quickly shut Pikachu up with a quick glare. Turning to the rest of the group, Ash stated. "The scary part is that I vividly remember the dirt trail and the forest from my dream." After inspecting the region, Ash shook his head. "There is no mistaking it… this path and forest _was in my dream… without a doubt."_

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Cerulean City… it really has changed." Misty sighed in amazement as she gazed at her hometown. Tall buildings shot up, out of the ground, in the dozens and destroyed the simple natural-look that existed before. Clouds of smoke bubbled from hundreds of cars on the noisy roads. This certainly didn't resemble the city that she spent a little over a decade in.

"So, what's our first stop?" Gary asked.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we should all pay and long overdue visit to the hospital."

"Th… the hospital? B… but why?" Brock trembled. He really hated hospitals; the needles, the knives, the pain… it was one of those spots where he had hoped that he would never visit.

Ash smiled as an idea formed across his head. "Don't worry, Brock. There are going to be plenty of pretty nurses over there."

"Pretty… nurses?" Brock drooled and was soon off in "daydream land".

Ash laughed. "Brock… he never does change, does he?"

"What do you mean by that?" Brock growled and aggressively pushed Ash down.

Surprised by his actions, Ash barely managed to keep his balance. "Ok, maybe I was wrong." Although he tried to sound nonchalant, he failed miserably. Brock's sudden outburst nearly scared him to death; Brock usually wasn't so violent.

Brock seemed satisfied by the answer and went back into his daydreaming mood. Giselle groaned at the boring scene. "Ok, then, let's get going."

Even with Misty's directions, it took the group nearly a ¼ of an hour to actually find the hospital due to the fact that the city was incredibly massive. The group entered the building and was greeted by a doctor. "Hello, can I help you?"

Ash walked straight up to the doctor. "Um… sir, do you have a cat-scan that we can borrow?"

Quite confused, the doctor nodded his head and led the group to another room. Everything in the room was pure white, including a small table in the corner. However, the group barely noticed this; they were way too focused on the enormous machine in the middle of the room. It seemed to have a bed of some sort attached to a conveyer belt. The conveyer belt ended only a few feet away with a large plastic dome covering the end of it.

"What exactly do you need this machine for?" The doctor questioned, quite baffled to say the least.

Ash sighed. "Um, sir, we all have been exposed to a rare microbe that dwells in the brain and can only be detected by a cat-scan. If you are afraid about us transferring this disease to other humans, you must realize that it can only be spread through a bite. The side effects are quite drastic, and we'd all really appreciate if we could borrow this machine and see if any of us are infected."

Trying to process the exceedingly large amount of information that Ash just stated, the doctor nodded. "Um… I guess that's ok. Go right ahead then."

Gary hopped on first and laid down on the machine. After the doctor typed in a few commands on a computer nearby, the machine buzzed with life and the conveyer belt started moving until it reached the platform at the end. Gary rested under the plastic dome as bright lights flashed inside the enclosed space. After a few seconds, Gary was moved out of the area. He blinked for a few moments before responding. "Um… I think I have a headache now."

Ash glanced at the computer screen and whispered something to the doctor. He nodded and exited out of the room. "Where did he go?" Brock asked, disappointed about the fact that he hadn't seen a pretty nurse yet.

"I asked him to print out all these images so that I can examine them closely." Ash commented.

Misty smiled. "Smart idea, but can you really tell the difference between a diseased brain and a normal one?"

Ash shook his head. Misty never had any faith in anything that he did. "Of course, Mist. I must have seen hundreds of X-rays of the brain! And why do you ask anyway?"

Misty smiled at the pleasant nickname. Mist… she kind of liked it. "Just wanted to be sure, that's all."

*~*~*~*~*~*

A burst of terror and rage crackled across their face, but the person quickly hid their emotions under a blanket of sorrow. It wasn't like they hadn't experienced these feelings before. In fact, the feelings were so overwhelming that they shocked the person into a massive and irrepressible headache.

However, a different emotion soon dominated over the others. It was a feeling that seemed to make other people around them quiver in fear. It was a feeling of complete and utter dread. Their secret was only minutes away from being discovered.

What were they going to do? Burning with fury, the tormented soul desperately wanted to stop the whole process, to stop the X-rays, to stop the precious knowledge to flow into another person's hands.

But, something stopped them. What could be called a blessing from God somehow managed to stop the death-spree that was going to occur. It was clear that something unusual was going on behind the scenes, something that was truly _unnatural and exceedingly terrifying. It was like someone else was controlling this person._

*~*~*~*~*~*

Misty sighed. She completely, without a doubt, 100%, annoyingly, ready to pull her hair out: bored. So far, Gary, Misty, Giselle and Brock had all been tested on the cat-scan and were waiting in the waiting room. Even Pikachu was with them; the loud noise and the bright lights from the machine were frightening him a good deal. 

The long wait seemed to continue forever, forcing Misty to listen to her own alarming thoughts. Who was infected? She glanced around the room and carefully rested her eyes on all her teammates. Finally, she glanced down at herself and bit her lip. What if it was herself? What if she had to stay locked up in a room and… no; she's not going to think about it. Similar notions soon floated through Misty's subconscious as she groaned. These thoughts were starting to drive her crazy. She just had to let them out… "Hey guys! Why do you think that Ash has been in there for so long?

Giselle shook her head. "You got me. I wonder why a cat-scan is taking so much time."

"Remember, he also has to study the X-rays in order to see which of us is infected." Gary stated monotonously.

The room was soon drenched in silence. Brock nervously gulped down a glass of water. "Do you guys really think that one of us in this room has Stellar?"

The four gazed anxiously around at each other. All of them were too frightened to voice an opinion. The silence that followed was so thick; it couldn't be cut with a knife. Misty, however, moaned and shattered the silence with a few simple words. "Oh, I just hope that Ash hurries up."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, I'm glad that's over with." Ash sighed as he jumped off of the makeshift bed situated on the machine. Walking over to where the doctor was busily typing some instructions on the computer, Ash questioned. "So, what's the report?"

The doctor stared at the computer screen for a moment longer before answering. "Ok. I'm printing an X-ray image of this right now in the other room. Hold on one second while I get it." The doctor soon exited the room while Ash yawned in boredom. The adventure at Mt. Moon really took a lot out of him.

After a few minutes, the doctor returned and handed Ash a brown-colored envelope. "Ok, here are all the X-rays of your friends." Glancing down at his watch, the doctor continued. "I've got to go into surgery now, but if you need anything else, just ask the staff around here for anything. They're really helpful."

Ash smiled. "Thanks a lot, Dr…"

The doctor grinned and playfully tapped his head. "Oh, silly me! Dr. Robinson!" With that, Dr. Robinson raced out the door.

Ash turned his attention to the envelope and opened it. Bunches of X-rays came flying out as Ash grabbed them one by one. Disregarding the envelope, Ash strolled up to what looked like a blackboard. Only the white paint, a few clips on the top and a bright light that illuminated the board in an eerie white light differentiated it from the normal classroom sight. Attaching all the black and white pictures onto the clips, Ash could now study them in close detail. The bright light from behind the board caused the pictures to flash in crisp and intricate detail. Ash studied the first one closely. The brain, or the area near the amygdala to be more precise, seemed to be perfectly normal. He then looked at the name that he insisted Dr. Robinson to write at the bottom of every picture.

The name written down was "Gary". This meant that Gary was perfectly normal… well as normal as he'll ever get. Ash smiled to himself. For some reason, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gary was fine even back in Mt. Moon. Ash simply shrugged his shoulders and passed off the coincidence as nothing more than what it was, a coincidence.

Ash raised his eyes to the next X-ray. It was the same as before; the X-ray was Stellar-free. The next one revealed the same results, as did the one right after. Ash grinned. If this pattern keeps up, the group might be able to continue onward without any complications. However, this wasn't the case. The fifth X-ray was different, extremely different.

Ash blinked his eyes in shock. He carefully checked and double-checked his findings. But, there was no doubt about it. One of the Rebels did have Stellar. Ash forced his eyes to glance at the single word near the bottom of the page. As his slow brain comprehended the name written on the picture, Ash continued to stare dumbly at the X-ray. It had to be wrong. It just had to be wrong.

But it wasn't. Ash dropped to his knees in distress as a small tear trickled down his cheek for his unfortunate comrade. Lass was right; one of his closest and most treasured friends did, in fact, have Stellar.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Sorry about the cliffhanger everyone, but it's the best way I could leave this chapter. The identity of the person w/ Stellar will definitely be stated in the next chapter. Out of curiosity, tell me who you think it is in the reviews. I want to know how many people guess the right person. Bye!


	5. Chapter 4: Everything Changes

A/N: Well, I'm back again with another part of my story. Thanks for all the reviews! I love reviews… and they help me write faster. Anyway, the majority of you stated in your reviews that you think its Misty who has Stellar and many people think its Brock. I think someone even thought that it was Ash. I even have a friend who thinks its Pikachu! I tell you that it's not Pikachu and that it's one of the three people that I've just mentioned. Who? Read to find out…

A Second Chance

Chapter 4: Everything Changes

*~*~*~*~*

"I should have excepted it." Ash sighed as he opened the door to the room, with the X-rays tightly clasped in his hands. He then raced over to the front desk in the hospital lobby, careful to avoid the waiting room. There he saw a nurse patiently waiting, the kind of nurse that Brock would have gone crazy over.

"Can I help you sir?" The young lady questioned in a sweet yet slightly bored voice.

Ash nodded. "Yes, has Dr. Robinson gotten out of surgery yet?"

"I'm afraid not." The polite nurse answered. "He's going to be busy for at least another 30 minutes or so."

"30 minutes!" Ash cried in vain. "No, you don't understand. I can't wait that long. I need some help from him right away."

The nurse shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry but…"

"No, don't say that." Ash quickly interrupted. "Here, when he comes out, please tell him to come and find me immediately."

"Your name?" The nurse asked as she searched her desk for a notepad and a pencil.

Ash heisted a moment before replying. Was it safe to revel his real name? Since he really had no other choice, for that's what he told Dr. Robinson beforehand, he whispered. "Actually, I'll just write him a quick note instead. Mind if I borrow that?"

The nurse relinquished her notepad and pencil to Ash. He quickly scribbled down a couple of things before returning the items. She then smiled and spoke. "As soon as he walks out of surgery, I'll tell him without delay."

Ash managed a weak grin before sighing. "Thanks." Since he certainly couldn't face his friends at the moment, Ash took a seat in the lobby. After a few minutes, another man, dawning the uniform of a local mailman, strutted into the hospital. In his arms, he carried an enormous mass of papers of all different sizes and shapes. The man hastily glanced around at the numerous small clusters of people in the room before his eyes rested on the classic loner sitting the furthest away from the others. This lone individual was, of course, Ash who was, at the present moment too wrapped up in his own thoughts to even gaze up from his marvelous view of the floor tiles.

"Excuse me, miss, but you wouldn't happen to know where I could deliver these papers to, would you?" The mailman questioned.

The nurse nodded her head rapidly. "Oh, you must be the deliverer of those files wanted by Dr. Clark."

The mailman smiled slyly. "Yeah, I guess you could call me a deliverer."

Once again, the nurse nodded in a robotic motion. "Dr. Clark is excepting you on the 3rd floor."

The mailman gratefully sighed. "Thank you ever so much. Have a nice day." The nurse simply grinned as he turned around. He was about to proceed on his mission, when he departed on a one-way trip to the floor. His valuable stack of papers neatly slid out of his arms and traveled a few feet short of where Ash was sitting.

Ash blinked in surprise. His attention was soon diverted to this comical scene as he knelled down and helped the man picked up his precious cargo. The man smiled gratefully at Ash as he finished collecting the various sheets. "Thanks for the help." He hurriedly mumbled as he reorganized his stack of papers. The man quickly glanced at his watch on his wrist before he raced out of the room at top speed.

Ash then turned around and was about to return to his seat when his sharp, hawk-eyes caught something. Situated right beside his right foot was a small piece of blue paper nicely folded in half. He then picked the tiny slip and was about to call out to the mysterious postman until his eyes glazed at the slip in detail. On the front was a small, three-letter word that made his eyes widen in surprise. Neatly printed on the front was the word "Ash".

With a new objective in his mind, Ash sprinted in the direction of the supposed mailman.

*~*~*~*~*

Ash panted as he sped past dozens of people. "He has to be around here somewhere!" Ash angrily thought as he started barging into various hospital rooms and racing down hallway after hallway. A grave combination of aggravation and bewilderment graced his face as he swiftly continued his search.

"Have you seen a mailman walk by here?" Ash asked a nearby doctor. She slowly shook her heads in negative response. Ash angrily cursed under his breath as he tried another room. That was the 10th person he questioned today, all of who answered with a no. Wandering around in aimless circles for a while, Ash hurriedly exited the room and tried asking yet another person. "Excuse me, have you noticed a mailman around here recently?" Ash questioned once again. However, it was answered with a shocking response.

"Oh yes, I did. He went out that door." The young woman stated and pointed a little ways away at an open door.

Ash grinned in relief. "Thank you, miss!" He then took off towards the door and discovered an empty hospital room. After a careful examination, Ash was dumbfounded to find nothing of importance in the little space. He soon shifted his eyes in the direction of the balcony outside, separated only by a clear glass door. Sliding the door open, he quickly hopped to the balcony and gazed down. Just as he thought, there was a fire escape. Ash sighed disappointedly and shoved the note into his right jacket pocket.

*~*~*~*~*

"Where is Ash? Shouldn't he have come out by now?" Giselle moaned in worry and started to pace across the floor.

Gary shook his head. "I don't know. I have a feeling that he's trying to delay coming out here and telling us."

"What exactly are you saying?" Misty questioned. Her curiosity was roused by Gary's stealthy tone.

Gary leaned back in his chair. "Well, how can we be sure that he will tell the truth? What if he's the one who's infected? He could easily hide it since he's the one examining the X-rays."

"You really think that Ash is the one that's infected?" Brock inquired in surprise.

Misty jumped out of her seat. "Oh come on! Ash isn't that stupid! If he's infected, he'll be smart enough to get some help."

"But what if he isn't?" Gary suggested as he rolled his eyes towards Misty.

Misty let her head drop to the ground before she raised it to meet Gary's eyes. "Look, we all are driving ourselves crazy with this issue. As much as I tease Ash, you have to admit it; he has a brain. Even if he is a little crazy with this disease, he's not going to risk all of our lives by not telling us. And if he is infected, then we should all have some sympathy towards him or anyone else who has this disease. After all, this mission is enough to drive anyone crazy."

Brock slowly shook his head up and down. "Misty's right."

"I also agree with Misty." Giselle murmured and paused her pointless pacing.

Gary sighed. "Ok, I guess I'm outnumbered again."

"Outnumbered on what?" Ash huffed as he walked into the room.

"Ash! Finally! It's about time!" Giselle snobbishly commented. "What took you so long?"

Ash gave a feeble smile. "Just had to be really sure. Out of curiosity, any chance that you guys saw a mailman around here?"

"Why would we see a mailman in a hospital?" Giselle bluntly asked.

Observing the ignorant looks on his friends, Ash already knew the answer to his question. Instead of explaining his recent adventure, Ash simply shrugged his shoulders. "It's not important. Never mind."

"So, what's the verdict?" Gary demanded as he leaned on the edge of his seat.

Ash lowered his head to the ground. He knew this question would come up. After carefully thinking over his words, Ash spoke. "You wouldn't believe how much I really want to say 'Everyone here is in perfect health and we can all get out of here!' Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Joe was right, one of us is infected."

He let these profound words sink in before he continued. "I've talked with some of the staff around here, and they are all pretty compassionate due to our extremely unusual situation. I want this person to know straight out that nothing bad is going to happen to them. We will find the antibiotic and, once we do, this person will be fine. I can not stress to you all how sorry I am for this person."

Shutting his eyes tightly, Ash muttered. "Brock, can you come with me please."

The group opened their mouths with a flabbergasted expression painted on all of their faces. Slowly, every pair of eyes were situated on Brock as he walked up to Ash in a peculiar manner. A minute of sheer silence passed before Brock gradually opened his mouth to speak. "Oh Ash! That was a good one! You are one really funny guy!"

Ash blinked in puzzlement. "But Brock, I wasn't…"

"I can't believe it! You really had us going there!" Brock laughed exuberantly. "You have to be the greatest actor ever! Now, where is that oscar?"

"Um… Brock, I wasn't acting. I'm serious!" Ash shrieked still shocked by Brock's carefree manner.

Brock, however, was on a laughing fit and just couldn't stop. "Is that part of the act? You probably set this whole thing up, huh? You probably made up all that information about that Beedrill having Stellar! I love it! You are the king of pranks! Even I couldn't have planned one like this! You really ought to congratulate yourself Ash!" Spinning around like an idiot, Brock added to the rest of the group. "Can you believe this guy? Isn't he a riot!"

"Um… Brock. I don't think that he was joking." Giselle stated seeing the unusual expression on Ash's face.

"I think he was serious." Gary simply commented.

Misty bit her lip. "Yeah Brock. Besides, Ash couldn't think of a good joke if his life depended on it!" Receiving a furious glare from Ash, Misty kept quiet.

These remarks only fueled Brock's laughing convulsion. "Oh, this is great! Let me guess, Ash told you to say all those things, right?" Turning to face Ash, Brock persisted. "Come on, Ash! Admit that it was all a big joke!" Finally noticing the worried look on Ash's face, Brock stopped his laughter. "It was a joke, wasn't it?"

Ash stared hard at the nearby wall in order to avoid Brock's gaze. In a barely audible voice, Ash confessed his pain in a single word. "No."

Studying Ash's face in intimate detail, Brock realized that Ash wasn't lying. "Would you stop taking this joke so far? Tell them that this is all a joke!" To enforce his point, Brock grabbed the collar of Ash's shirt and pushed him against the wall.

A single notion of fear never crossed Ash's mind as he simply shut his eyes and whispered. "I really wish I could."

Brock started getting alarmed by Ash's stubborn behavior. He tightened his grip on Ash and pushed him further against the wall while the others simply watched in dismay. "Do I have to repeat myself? I said tell them!"

Ash made no moves to resist Brock. Instead, he grabbed a pokeball from his belt and pressed the release button. The pokemon inside it formed a few feet away into a bell-shaped creature. It's yellowish-green skin color and big eyes produced a soft and almost innocent look. However, the hard expression on its face showed that it was something not to be messed with. Two dark green leaves sprung out from the top of its body while a small brown stem protruded from the top of its head making it look like it was a fruit that was just plucked from a tree. The small creature noticed the situation and, without a single word from its master, the plant pokemon discharged a pinkish haze into the air. The haze spread over to both Ash and Brock and they both collapsed to the floor.

Misty, Gary and Giselle finally acted and raced over to the two. "That looked like sleep powder." Gary commented.

"Yeah, I think that you're right. They both are fast asleep." Giselle stated as she quickly examined the two.

A man in a white lab coat, clearly a doctor, raced into the room followed by two other men pushing a stretcher along. "Shoot! It looks like I'm a little late." The doctor exclaimed as he inspected the scene. Pointing to Brock, the doctor turned to the other two men. "Take him to the 3rd floor, room 121."

The men nodded and lifted Brock's body onto the stretcher. They then started running towards the elevator, followed by the doctor, and disappeared from sight. Ash, who was quite use to this attack from his own pokemon, woke up a few moments later. Observing Brock's departure, Ash smiled. "I'm glad that worked. Thanks Weepinbell." Weepinbell seemed to smile at the compliment as Ash returned it to its pokeball.

Pikachu, who had remained silent during this whole incident, jumped into Ash's arms. Ash robotically petted the yellow rat as he stared at the three people surrounding him. "Well, I'm glad that's over. We'd better hurry and get that antibiotic before anything serious happens to Brock." Ash then rose to his feet and started walking out of the room.

"Wait a second! You don't mean now, do you?" Gary exclaimed in surprise at Ash's persistence.

Giselle nodded her head in agreement. "Come on, Ash! It's already late! We might as well get a good-night sleep before we continue on."

Ash stopped and made a 180º turn before speaking. "Are you guys serious? You want to quit now? It's only 9:00 for crying out loud! It'll only take us a only few hours to get it and give it to Brock!"

Misty shook her head. "Ash, just think about it. We are all, including yourself, are tired from that trip to Mt. Moon anyway."

"Sheesh, is everyone against me?" Ash inquired, already knowing the answer to his own question. "Well, if you all are too tired to help a friend in need, then so be it. I'll just go alone." With that, Ash once again spun around and tired to escape.

Misty ran up to him and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ash, please! You can't just run off by yourself like that!"

Ash once again rotated himself around and stared straight at Misty. "And why not? I've been doing this for 6 years."

"Well, now we are a team and we have stay together as a team. I don't care how long you've been alone by yourself! You can't take off like this!" Misty pleaded.

"Misty, our teammate… no, our friend is dying out there! Dying! He's been like this for a day and half or so! Do you know how long that is? Heck, even Gary and Giselle here said that he was in horrible shape when they found him. That wasn't so much from the rockslide as it was from Stellar!" Ash shouted in utter frustration at the hopeless situation.

"Yes, I know that. We all know that. But please be reasonable! You're going to wander off by yourself in the dark and you don't even know the exact location! Even Brock would agree, wait a few hours until morning comes. At least we'll have time to make a plan by then rather than simply barging in there!" Misty growled trying her best to keep this team together.

Ash held his hands up in defeat. "Ok, ok! I give up! If it's that much of a problem I'll wait a few more hours."

"Well, since we have that settled, where do you want to go?" Gary asked.

Misty grinned. "Don't worry. We can stay with my sisters."

"Then shall we get going?" Giselle questioned timidly.

Misty gazed at Ash once again. "Hold on! Ash, you need to go see a doctor about that gash on your head. And why aren't you wearing that handkerchief I gave you?"

Ash smiled and then returned a somewhat bloody and wrinkled handkerchief. "Yeah, um… I already did that. They gave me a few stitches while you all were waiting."

"No wonder it look you so long!" Giselle cried as the four walked out of the building.

*~*~*~*~*

"Daisy, Lily, Violet, I'd like for you to meet my friends Gary, Giselle, and Ash" Misty smiled as she introduced the 6 to one another. A brief exchange of greetings followed as Misty got straight to the point. "I was wondering if you guys would let me and my friends crash here for a night or two."

"Sure!" The three sisters chanted a little too enthusiastically.

"You all can like sleep in the 2 spare guest rooms." Daisy, the eldest of the sisters stated. She then glanced down and eyed the little yellow rodent known to us all as Pikachu. "Oh, like what a cutie!"

Ash politely smiled. "Yea, he's mine."

Lily grinned blissfully as she turned to Ash. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Ash that, like, used to follow Misty around, like would you?"

"What? Me follow _her_ around?" Ash exclaimed in surprise at the thought.

Gary, on the other hand, started laughing hysterically. "Ash? You were following a _girl_ around for all those years ago! What a pathetic retard!"

"And what's so wrong with that? Women should be the ones leading anyway since they have a better sense of direction!" Giselle cried angrily at Gary's lack of self-respect towards women. A slow smile formed on her lips as an old memory surfaced. "And, besides, didn't you join the Johto League just to follow a pretty girl?"

"How do you know about Cindy?" Gary shouted with astonishment etched on his face.

"She just happened to be my best friend." Giselle replied with a mocking smile adorning her lips.

Misty lifted her eyebrow in curiosity. "Who's Cindy?"

Giselle giggled under her breath. "Oh, just a very close of friend of mine and Gary's crush for years."

Ash sighed. His friends could be so childish sometimes. "Um… that's interesting. Anyway, that wasn't the case for me. Misty followed me around."

"Only for a bike which you _still_ haven't paid back!" Misty growled angrily.

Ash shook his head. Some people _never_ change. "Not that bike again."

"Bike? Are you telling me that, like, Misty of all people followed you around for like, miles and miles, and years and years just for a bike?" Violet questioned with a sarcastic undertone.

Knowing that Misty would start one of her yelling fits, Ash quickly tried to escape. "And where were those guests rooms again?"

"Like, leaving so soon Ash?" Daisy moaned.

"Yea Ash. Like, tell us what you've been doing for, like, all these years." Violet commanded.

Lily also joined in by declaring. "Ash, come on. Like, tell us. We, like, want to know."

And that was how Ash became the center of attention as Misty, Gary and Giselle looked on in shock. "Well, it looks like we've excluded from this conversation." Giselle stated as she watched the three sisters crawl closer towards a somewhat alarmed Ash.

"What just happened?" Gary asked dumbfounded at the recent turn of events.

Misty blinked her eyes rapidly for a moment before she regained her composer. "My sisters can be a little too friendly at times. Here, let's get out of here. I'll show you all to the guest rooms."

"Bye Ash." Giselle called as the three starting walking out of the area.

"Hey! Wait up for me!" Ash cried from his suffocating position in the midst of the group composed of attractive women.

"But, Ash! You, like, still haven't told us about all those wonderful adventures that you, like, must have had over the years." Daisy persisted.

Ash groaned. Looks like it's going to be harder to escape then he had initially thought.

*~*~*~*~*

"What do you mean that they just disappeared!" screeched the woman as she arose from her comfortable chair and glared at the two other occupants in the room. Her eyes blazed an electric red that could even rival the fiery embers spouting from a volcano. Her mouth parted slightly in order to show her deadly lustrous weapons called teeth. Her breaths became short and detached while her fingers clawed mercilessly into the oak desk that was situated under her.

The two others in the room, a man and a women, quivered in fear at the very sight of the malevolent and crazy woman at the desk. They both dropped to the ground and hugged the carpet hoping that it could help them flee from such a hideous beast. Still feeling the wicked eyes of the woman upon them, the other female, on the floor, whispered. "I'm sorry, Master, but he and his friends simply vanished from thin air."

The fuming woman pounded her hand on the desk sending jolts of fear into the hearts of the two still curled on the ground. "Vanished from thin air? Oh, I do not need to hear such crap! It's physically impossible! I want answers, and I want them now! Win, Julie, I'm giving you two one last chance. What in God's name happened in that mountain!"

Win and Julie continued to tremble in their exposed spots. Finally, Win managed to gain the nerve to speak and whispered. "Master, with all due respect, Julie and I are telling the truth. When we found Ash and his friends, Julie demanded a pokemon battle with him. She used her Sandslash while Ash used that Pikachu of his. Things were going well, until Sandslash tried to use its earthquake, which would have surely killed Pikachu. That's when things got weird."

Deciding to help her partner out, Julie continued. "This weird blue bubble encased the rodent and protected it from Sandslash's attack. It also caused my poor Sandslash, which was in practically perfect health, to faint. Later, when we tried to shoot at them…"

Win then elbowed her in the stomach. "Shut up!" He whispered in a low enough voice so that his Master couldn't hear. In a louder voice, he continued. "What my partner meant to say was that when we tried to shoot a glance towards the group, they soon became encased in a another bubble that decreased in size until it was practically nothing."

The woman blinked in shock for a moment before her vicious attitude once again surfaced. "Are you making this up? Do you really except me to believe all of this?"

"This really did happen, Master. No lies, we are telling the truth." Julie pleaded with her Master in vain.

At these words, a slow malicious smile materialized on her lips. "So, after all of these years it finally happened. Why, this makes things all the more interesting now." Glancing back at her pitiful companions, the woman hissed. "Thank you two for this valuable information. You now may be dismissed."

Win and Julie hurriedly leapt to their feet and dashed out the door thankful that they still were breathing.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, here's the first guestroom. I guess you and Ash can stay in there, ok Gary?" Misty turned to Gary as she pointed towards a door on the far left of the hallway. Receiving a nod, she continued. "And I think that my sisters are using my old room as a second guestroom. You and I can share that room, is that all right with you Giselle?"

Giselle haughtily bobbed her head up and down. "It's no hotel suite, but it'll do."

After a minute or two passed, Misty, Gary and Giselle all placed their things in their appropriate room. They then marched back into the halls, all with bored looks adorning each of their faces. "So, does anyone have any bright ideas for tomorrow?" Gary asked.

"Um… how about we call Joe and ask for a precise location of the Serpent's headquarters? 5 miles east of here is hardly anything to go on." Misty pointed out in a logical manner.

Giselle shrugged her shoulders apprehensively. "We could do that, but shouldn't we ask Ash about that? I mean, he probably knows the Serpent's place backwards and forwards."

"That isn't such a bad idea, actually." Gary commented thoughtfully.

Misty shook her head in aggravation. "Oh, would you two stop being so dependent on Ash? Ash this……. Ash that…… I mean come on! He's not a God or anything! He's certainly _not_ perfect and he certainly _doesn't_ know all the answers. We are just as capable of finding out stuff as he is! You all should have a little more faith in yourselves."

"Still… I would if I knew as much as he did." Giselle blurted out.

Misty sighed. She just couldn't win with these two. "Well, let's just make that videophone call anyway. Ash will find us sooner or later."

*~*~*~*~*

"Look, I need to run some errands now. Can you please leave me alone?" Ash pleaded to the three girls that simply refused to let Ash walk another step without them. They even went so far to situate themselves directly in front of the door leading outside their house. The only way that Ash was going to be able to leave was to battle against his captors.

"No, you're not getting away that easily! Besides, we just met." Daisy purred with a hint of desire wrapped within her swelled throat.

"Just met! I met you 10 years ago! You probably 'just met' Gary and Giselle too. Why don't you talk to them while I run this errand?" Ash whined as he glanced down at Pikachu for some help. However, the little rodent was too busy trying to grab a Ketchup bottle from the fridge.

Violet chirped wistfully. "You're so much more mature than the others. And we haven't had company in a long time."

Ash opened his mouth in puzzled manner. "Me? Mature? That's one I thought that I'd _never_ hear when I was younger." Mournfully, Ash glanced towards the door; his only hope for escape being blocked by the three woman. "Come on guys! Please let me leave! I shouldn't be gone for that long anyway! Couldn't you go talk to Misty? She's your sister after all!"

"So?" The three virtually identical sisters chanted.

It was at this moment that a miracle occurred for Ash. The door, that was previously blocked by the girls, was pushed open by a small girl. She dawned a crimson T-shirt with a teal colored jacket. Her dark blue jeans matched perfectly with her black hair streaked with dark spikes of azure. "I challenge the gym leader here to a battle!"

Ash smiled gratefully at the young child and turned back to the three sisters. "I guess that you all have a gym battle to attend to. I won't want to get in the way, so I'll just be leaving…"

"Wait a minute!" Lily cried but it was too late; Ash had flown the coop as he took off into the darkened night. Glaring at the unexpected challenger, Lily grumbled. "Thanks a lot!"

*~*~*~*~*

"Hey, Grandpa! Long time no see!" Gary grinned as Pro. Oak's image popped up on the screen.

Pro. Oak stopped his activities and faced the screen. "Oh, hello everyone! So, how are things going so far?"

"Well, we discovered who has Stellar now." Giselle quickly commented.

"Who?" Joe asked as he entered the screen.

"Brock. He's at the hospital right now." Misty sighed solemnly.

Joe blinked in surprise. "Brock? Really? You mean that she was right!"

Pro. Oak questionably glanced at Joe. "Who was right?"

Joe cringed for a moment, realizing that he had said too much. "Oh, didn't… um… Misty say that she thought that Brock had Stellar before?"

"No, I didn't." Misty stared at Joe in confusion.

Joe quickly covered up his mistake. "Oh, oops! I'm an idiot. I thought that Misty had said that before! I guess that I was mistaken."

"You certainly were. I'm no psychic." Misty declared forcefully.

Trying to divert some attention away from himself, Joe looked around. "Hey! Where has Ash run off to?"

Gary laughed heartily. "Ash! He probably is still trying to fend off that pack of hunger wolves known as Misty's sisters!"

"Indeed. I still don't know what they see in Ash." Misty whispered venomously.

"So, have you found a cure to Stellar yet?" Giselle asked, noticing the deadly look on Misty's face.

Pro. Oak shook his head. "No, but we've run numerous tests on the bacteria and discovered some unusual things about it. I swear, I've seen something similar to it before, but I can't place a finger on it as of yet."

"We all were planning on invading the Serpent's HQ tomorrow. Can you tell us the exact location of it?" Misty questioned wanting nothing more than to check out the building of the enemies that Ash has so accurately described.

"Oh no…" Joe's voice trailed off as he stared blankly back at them. "I forget to get the map of the area! Shoot! I knew I forgot something! Here, I'll tell you what. I'll search around and find the map of the area near the Serpent's HQ and fax it to you."

Gary impatiently gazed at the monitor. "How long will it take?"

Joe quickly did the calculations in his head before he answered. "Um… not that long. Give me anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour."

"Ok, I guess we'll talk to you tomorrow." Giselle stated as the others waved good-bye in response. She pushed a button causing the screen to turn blank. "I guess we should all get some sleep for the mission tomorrow."

Gary robotically nodded his head. "Perhaps we can meet this Lass person then."

"Hey guys. I have a question for both of you." Misty quickly articulated as she tried to determine the best way to phrase her delicate question. "What do you think of Ash?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Giselle asked wondering what Misty really meant.

Misty bit her lip questioning whether she should even mention her thoughts at all. "I mean, don't you think that something is 'wrong' with Ash? Like he's trying to hide something from us?"

"Ash? Trying to hide something from us? Don't be absurd Misty! Ash wouldn't do something like that! He may be a bit mysterious, but I sincerely doubt that he would keep secrets from us!" Gary exclaimed in surprise as if this was common knowledge. "You are just worrying too much about tomorrow."

Misty sighed. "Maybe you're right, but still… well, we'll just have to see what happens later."

*~*~*~*~*

Ash halted his rapid pace as he stopped to catch his breath. Large lungful of air burst into his respiratory system as his breathing returned to its normal pace. Ash then glanced behind him only to realize that Pikachu was missing, probably still trying to get that ketchup bottle… It figures…

Ash strolled into a nearby building and quickly scrutinized the scene. The hospital hadn't changed a bit since he was last here. Even the same nurse was on duty behind the front lobby desk, however, she failed to recognize Ash from before.

He quickly exited the area and climbed into the elevator. After hastily pushing the button marked "3rd floor", Ash waited until the door mechanically opened. A quick walk down the hall followed until he discovered his destination. He thrust the door open as a slow frown grew on his chap lips.

There Brock lay peacefully in a hospital bed as various tubes protruded from numerous locations all over his body. A slow beeping sound was heard in the background as the only indication that Brock hadn't departed from this world and into the next. Ash noiselessly approached the still figure. His eyes shifted over to the table where he picked up a small chart. Skimming the chart, which detailed his medical records, Ash sighed. "Well, it looks like your fine at the moment, Brock."

Although he knew that Brock couldn't hear him right now, Ash still continued. "They say here that you are in perfect health with the exception of being 'abnormally aggressive'. Of course, they don't know what's causing it, but they are keeping you under an atheistic for a while." Ash dropped the chart to the ground and furiously stamped his foot. "Oh, dammit Brock! Why did they have to come after you? It's me that they are after!"

Ash irately paced across the room. "They have always been after me! Why in the heck did I tell Pro. Oak about all of this? I can't stand seeing you or the others hurt like this!"

Slowly down his restless strolling, Ash stared at Brock's still unconscious form. "You don't even know anything about this mission, do you? Neither you, nor Misty, nor Gary, nor Giselle, nor Joe, nor Pro. Oak know the real reason behind this mission!"

Approaching the bed, Ash knelled down on the floor and forcefully closed his eyes. "Even, I don't know the whole truth. But, I do know one thing. We aren't simply trying to stop Stellar from causing an epidemic; we are trying to stop the Serpents from completing their real goal and that is world domination. And the only way that they can do that is if they have me… They want me, Brock! That's all they want! And if that's so, why are you sitting here dying at this precise moment?"

A small crystal tear slid down his cheek as he opened his puffy eyes. "I really don't know what to do anymore. If this is the last time that we see each again, good friend, please, please take care of yourself. Find a place that you can live the rest of your life in peace, Brock. Good bye, and please don't give up. Never give up, Brock, never." Taking a deep breath, Ash left the room and wandered into the hallway. His sharp ears picked up some sounds coming from the stairs nearby. As the sounds grew in degree, Ash started to get more and more suspicious. There shouldn't be anyone in the hospital now.

After sweeping his eyes across the area, Ash swiftly ran back into Brock's room and into the bathroom. He kept the door slightly ajar in order to see what was going on. He was not a moment too soon for a solitary figure walked up the steps draped in a coffee-brown coat. His face was cloaked in darkness, under a hood, as he stepped into view. Ash watched the mysterious figure scuttle into the room and over to Brock's side. Venom and hot-blooded anger swirled in Ash's eyes as patiently waited behind the door. The person gazed over at Brock for a moment before placing a light blue note into Brock's hand. As the being moved away from Brock and started to walk out of the room, Ash made his move.

He leapt out of his hiding place and tackled the shadowy individual. Taken by complete surprise, the person tried to wiggle out of Ash's grip with fear pumping down his spine. A few kicks helped free the man as he took off down the hall. Instead of following him, Ash grabbed a pokeball and slammed it to the floor. "I choose you, Haunter!" The devilish ghost pokemon materialized as it tolerantly lingered in the air, awaiting its next command. "Find a figure in dark cloak. Use psychic to stop him and bring him to me."

The ghost creature with an oddly disproportional head, dissolved through the walls like a wisp of vapor. Through currently unknown methods, Haunter managed to find the fleeting figure dashing a flight of stairs. Enveloping him in a strange pure white light, the man froze and screamed in utter pain. The attack was so powerful that the stranger immediately dropped to the ground like a leaf falling from a tree in the fall. The creature smiled at its accomplishment as it changed forms into a black elemental mass and magically wrapped its atoms around the figure. A soft yellowish-white light evaporated the two living entities and they shifted through space until they reached a very weary Ash. The stranger and the black mass soon formed a few feet away from Ash, displaying the awesome power of Haunter's teleport.

"Nice work Haunter." Ash remarked as he restored Haunter to its rightful place in its pokeball. The exhausted individual slowly opened his eyes and gazed breathless straight at Ash. Seeing that his prisoner was moving, Ash glared savagely at his apparent enemy. "What do you think you're doing here?"

The merciless and spiteful tone in his voice made the stranger involuntarily shiver in alarm. "You should already know."

"What is that supposed mean!!!!!!" Ash screamed clasping his fists so tightly that they turned a pale white. "What's the meaning with all these notes?" From his left hand, a blue note plummeted to the ground directly beside the person.

The person struggled to a sitting position and quickly glanced at the note. "This is the second note I gave you."

"**_I already know that!_**" Ash shrieked like a wild beast. "I want answers! What does 'You can't fake it anymore' and 'She knows' supposed to mean!"

A slow sinful smile spread across the stranger's lips as he slowly stood up and removed his hood. Dull brown pupils pounced into view along with vicious blue hair streaked with bloody crimson and inky black. His expression portrayed a dire soul wanting nothing more than to escape some cruel fate that life had condemned him to. "How can you be so blind? Don't you remember a single word that Lass has told you over the years?"

Ash cringed for a moment at the sound of that name. He blankly stared back at the sinister man. "Just how would you have the slightest clue of what Lass has said to me?"

A sly smile crept to his lips. "After all that's happened… you're still the same old Ash: clueless as brick."

"I'm not clueless! And how do you know my name?" Ash growled in response.

"Do I really need to spell it out? I should I say the motto to refresh your memory?" The unknown figure sneered under his breath.

"A motto… but it couldn't be…" Ash moaned nervously. As he stared at the man curiously for a moment, Ash questioned. "Contact lens, James?"

Tentatively placing a hand on his right eye, James nodded. "Brown colored contact lens to be exact."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Ash sighed. "But, how did you survive that avalanche? I thought that everyone had died in it."

"That's what he wanted you to think." James curtly responded.

"Who's 'he'?" Ash asked out of simple curiosity.

James slyly grinned for a moment as memories of the past bounced into his skull. "Why that's simple: Giovanni."

"Giovanni? But that avalanche happened 5 years ago!" Ash exclaimed in wonder at the lie that he so desolately believed for all these years.

James threw his head back an issued an ominous chuckle. "Silly Ash! Did you really think that people like Giovanni and Lass wouldn't lie to you?"

"Giovanni and Lass? What are you talking about?" Ash cried at discovery of the web of lies that had been built around the little world that he lived in.

James couldn't wipe the devilish grin from his lips as he walked back into Brock's room. When he reached Brock's side, James knelled down and grabbed a small instrument from underneath the table. With the piece of technology within his fingertips, James walked back to Ash. "Some truths were never meant to be told by me, Ash. You are going to have to figure them out by yourself."

"So, that means that you don't know them yourself!" Ash replied spitefully and closely examined the equipment in James' hands. It look like a small black tape recorder with a miniature microphone attached to it. As James started rewinding the tiny tape inside, Ash blinked his eyes. "You bugged this hospital room?"

Deciding that he had come to the proper place in the tape, James glanced up at Ash and slowly nodded. "Correct, Ashy, correct."

Ash narrowed his pupils at the sound of the nickname. "How do you know Lass?"

"Who said I knew her?" James tediously questioned.

Ash flapped his mouth open and shut like a fish on land gasping for air. "But, how else would you explain all that information that you know about her?"

"I'll give you a hint, Ash. I never said that I quit Team Rocket." James voiced, wondering if Ash could pick up on his clue.

Ash's eyes glazed over as he dumbly stared at the wall. "But, that would mean that you were spying on Lass? But why? And how come I was never alerted of this mission?"

Shaking his head, James slowly elevated his eyes until they were locked with Ash's. "Giovanni keeps his most important missions secret from everyone except himself and the people involved. This ensures that important information doesn't leak out to traitors."

"Like myself…" Ash continued with a new understanding of the underworld of crime. "But, why are you telling me all this now?"

"Because, I was told to." James monotonously stated.

Ash tilted his head to one side. "By Giovanni? By Lass?" James shifted his head from side to side. The slow action of James' head answered his questions. "Then who?"

"Actually, I don't know myself." James despondently retorted. "It must have been an illusion of some kind, but some sort of creature told me to, in my dreams."

"Creature? What kind of creature? A pokemon? A human?" Ash questioned, blurting out the first thoughts that crossed his brain.

James sighed. "I can't remember. All I know was that the dream was too real to be taken lightly. The creature looked really similar to what the ancients called a 'cat' except that it was standing upright and was pink and white." Slapping those thoughts away, James changed the subject. "But enough of that." Pressing the play button on his little machine, James listened for a moment to Ash's own words, which was stated only moments ago. "Well, maybe I was wrong about you Ash; perhaps you do know what those notes mean."

"I do?" Confusion blanketed his features as Ash tried to remember what he had told Brock not moments beforehand.

James bobbed his head in agreement. "You do. You have all the pieces of the puzzle but you can't make the picture." Pushing the stop button on the tape recorder, James smiled. "You wouldn't believe how many people would die for this information, especially Giovanni." Dropping the instrument to the floor, the machine shattered into numerous pieces across the ground. Lifting his foot, James stomped on the broken machine until it was nothing more than minute pieces of plastic spread across the floor.

Ash inquisitively gazed at James. "Was that also part of your orders?"

"No." James simply whispered and started to walk away. "And, if you were wondering about that avalanche, not all of us survived. Meowth didn't make it."

"Meowth died?" Ash questioned in morbid shock. "But what about Jessie?"

For a brief moment, James turned around. "That is something that you'll have to figure out by yourself." With that, James continued his stroll out the hallway leaving behind a shocked and just as confused Ash.

*~*~*~*~*

Ash opened the door and eyed the occupants inside. Seeing only Gary and Giselle inside, Ash mouthed a "thank you" to himself as quickly shut the door and leaned his back against it. A grateful expression graced his face as he sighed in relief.

"Having fun?" Gary smartly questioned as he winked slyly in Ash's direction.

Giselle brashly spoke. "Why do you let those girls bother you? Frankly, any girl that goes chasing after a guy like that is missing half her brain."

Gary shook his head as a dreamy look entered his eyes. "I wish Cindy did that for me…"

"Oh brother!" Giselle moaned in frustration.

"So, what are you guys doing?" Ash asked noticing that Gary and Giselle were seated on the floor with a bunch of playing cards in their hands.

"We're playing poker. Want to join?" Gary stated motioning for Ash to come over.

"At this time in the night?" Ash blinked in amazement before shrugging his shoulders. "Oh sure. Why not?"

Gary moved a little as Ash dived to the floor. The trio formed a rough semi circle as Giselle shuffled the cards. Noticing the solemn look on Ash's face, Giselle uttered. "What's with the grim face, Ash?"

Ash picked up his five cards before replying. "Oh nothing. Just thinking about things, that's all." Tapping his hand on the floor, Ash added. "Hit me." Receiving weird looks from Gary and Giselle, Ash's face changed to a deep red. "Oh, wrong game."

Gary smacked a silly grin on his lips. "Think that we're playing black jack, Ash?" Pausing for a moment to drop some cards and pick up some other ones, Gary continued. "I watched the last part of Daisy's battle with a challenger a few minutes ago. Where did you wander off during this time?"

Ash sighed, trying to think of reasonable excuse. "Oh, out, you know… just wandering around town for a while. Raise you $5."

"Oh, it's a $1 limit." Gary quickly stated. "I just taught Giselle how to play and she was too wimpy to bet anything higher than a buck."

"I'm not wimpy you loser!" Giselle retorted angrily. "It's just that this is a friendly game and I don't want to lose a lot of money!"

"Ok then. I raise you a dollar then." Ash rapidly declared, trying to stop the inevitable fight that was about to occur.

However, Ash's causal efforts were a little late. Gary clandestinely glazed at Giselle as he threw some chips to add to the pile. "What did I tell you about her being a wimp? I call."

"Idiot. I call." Giselle muttered and likewise dropped a bundle of poker chips to the floor before redirecting her attention to Ash. "So, what did ya do around town? Oh, and I have a pair of 5s."

Deciding that it was safe to say, Ash simply commented. "Oh, I went and visited Brock in the hospital. What do you have Gary?"

"Two pair." Gary released his cards and pointed to a pair of 4s and a pair of Jacks. "How's Brock doing?"

"He's fine." Ash drearily testified as he showed the group his cards. "I've got a pair of Aces. You win Gary."

Gary smiled greedily and claimed the mound of chips as his own. "Cool. So, did anything important happen during your little visit?"

Ash swiftly gathered the cards in order to shuffle them. "Nothing important." Ash stared at the cards guilty knowing that he had just lied through his teeth.

*~*~*~*~*

"Need some help there, Pikachu?" Misty kindly asked the tiny rodent observing its dilemma. The refrigerator door handle was a little high for Pikachu as it jumped up and down like a spring trying to obtain the delicious ketchup inside.

"(What do you think?)" Pikachu sarcastically growled but this question was lost on Misty who was basically clueless when it came to "Pikachuese".

"I'll take that as a yes then." Misty pulled the door open and extracted a practically brand-new bottle of ketchup. Handing the precious the item to the small pokemon, Misty added. "Don't eat too much of this. You'll get sick, ok?"

Pikachu nodded and replied with another sardonic comment. "(Do you really that I'm that stupid?)" Pikachu raced out of the kitchen, looking for a good location to pig out.

Reluctantly, a sluggish grin materialized on Misty's lips. "Silly Pikachu. With a bottle of ketchup, that rodent is the happiest creature on the planet. I wish everything was that simple…"

Walking out of the kitchen, Misty strolled over to nearby couch and sat down on it. Before she had a moment to relax, Misty noticed a small blue piece of folded paper on the floor. Picking it up, Misty read the word on the front, "Ash". Remembering that this room was often used to entertain guests, or, in her sisters' cases, to flirt with them, she sighed. "I guess Ash must have dropped his."

Her slim fingers unfolded the crisp paper. "You can't fake it anymore? What in the world is that supposed to mean?" Misty cried to no one in particular. As her mind raced over the infinite possibilities, a deep look of sheer rage crossed her eyes. "I knew it! He was hiding something from us!" She quickly jumped out of her relaxed position and impulsively rushed out of the room in search of Ash.

*~*~*~*~*

"Read them and weep! A flush!" Giselle giggled happily and proudly displayed her prize. "I won! Hand over the money, boys!"

"Boys?" Ash and Gary questioned in sync.

Giselle ignored them and eagerly played with her new chips of money. "Finally! I won!"

"Yea, one win after half an hour of playing. Talk about beginners luck…" Gary exclaimed mockingly.

"Oh, what would you know! Hey Ash! Don't you agree that this was a superb hand and that it took some skill to get?" Giselle pleadingly glanced up at Ash, hoping that her beautiful eyes could taunt him into agreement.

Gary playfully pushed her. "Oh come on Ash! Tell her that she's such a cowardly card player! I mean, even in this hand, all she won was a $1.25! What kind of skill was she talking about?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." Ash wisely announced. Rapidly shuffling the cards, Ash dealt 5 cards to each player.

After picking up the cards, Giselle noisily spoke. "Hey, Ash. Does Daisy, Lily and Violet know that you are here, in the room that you and Gary are going to share for the night?"

Smacking a hand over Giselle's mouth Ash hissed. "Would you shut up! Now they know where I am!" Unfortunately, while doing this, his 5 cards slipped out of his fingers displaying four wicked Aces and a King.

"You have 4 Aces! Oh, I'm out!" Gary glumly slammed down his useless cards to the floor.

"Same here." Giselle whispered. After a moment's hesitation, she added. "Why is it so bad for Misty's sisters to know where you are?"

"Gee, that's _so _hard to figure out." Gary moaned sardonically.

After grumbling some curses under his breath, Ash sighed. "Because they will come in here with some lame excuse. First will be Daisy. Knowing her, she's going to say something about needing help with some machine that's broken."

As Gary was shuffling the cards, there was a short rap on the door followed by the appearance of Daisy, who peaked her head inside. "Hey, Ash. I just found out that my toaster is busted. Any chance that you can fix it for me?"

"Why do you need to use the toaster at this hour?" Giselle inquired with a stealthy undertone.

Daisy glared at her, warning Giselle that she better back off before something serious should happen. Of course, this look went unobserved by Ash and Gary who couldn't understand the secret language of woman. "Because I happen to like toast at this hour! Will you help me out, Ash?"

Ash waved off her attempts by saying. "Sorry, I'm going to go to bed pretty soon and I think that we all need a good-nights rest for tomorrow."

"Oh, ok." Daisy whispered dejectedly and closed the door.

Gary gazed at Ash curiously. "How did you know that?"

Seeing that Gary and Giselle had placed their opening bets, Ash threw down 50 cents worth of chips. He then slowly gazed up at Gary. "Daisy is the type of person that's incredibly helpless and needs someone to help her out with even the most simplest things. Violet and Lily think alike, so I bet that they'll come in, one-by-one, using the excuse of food. Those two gather food in their mouth like it was a hobby."

"And yet they don't gain a pound! Now that's what I call annoying! Do you know how much I had to diet in order to keep this slender figure?" Giselle growled in aggravation.

Thinking of the slim shape of all the four sisters, Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Must run in the family."

Another quick game passed before another knock on the door followed. The doorknob twisted as two girls, Lily and Violet, of course, walked in. "Ash, want to get a late-night snack to eat with Lily and me?" Violet politely asked.

"No thanks." Ash briskly replied as the two girls despondently left the room. "See? What did I tell you? To think, I learned all of this in a 15 minute conversation."

"You're good, although you were wrong about them coming in separately." Giselle smiled and dropped three cards before picking up three other cards. "You think that the fourth sister will also come in search of you?"

After Gary picked up his cards, Ash decided to leave his hand just the way it was. He then discharged a couple of chips and thoughtfully answered. "You mean Misty? Well, I doubt it, but, knowing her, she'll be mad at me for some reason or another."

"I call. That really sounds like Misty all right. She's always mad at you." Gary bluntly commented.

"Yea, but she always gets over it. Are you in or out, Giselle?" Ash asked Giselle motioning to her that he was referring to the card game.

Giselle shook her head. "I fold. And, I warn you Ash. You really ought to be careful about those fights with Misty. Not every fight follows with forgiveness."

Ash casually shook his head. "Oh, come on! This is Misty that we're talking about! I really doubt that…"

"Ash Ketchum! How dare you try and hide something from me and the others!" Misty bellowed in fury as she smashed the door open.

"And here it starts…" Ash groaned knowing all to well what was coming next.

Misty grunted in annoyance but chose to ignore that remark. "What's the meaning of this? And why did you hide it from us?" She tossed the blue note into the air. It soon landed only a few inches away from the source of her anger.

Ash picked up the note and swiftly glanced at it before recognizing it as the note he received from the hospital. "But I put this in my jacket pocket…" Shifting his gaze over to his black leathery jacket that he still dawned, Ash noticed a worn-out hole at the bottom of his right pocket. "Oh, a hole! Serves me right for not getting a new jacket for a few years."

"Give me a proper answer! Where did you get that note and why did you hide it from us?" Misty growled at Ash's causal attitude.

"While waiting for Dr. Robinson to come out of surgery, some postal worker walked up to me and handed it to me. Happy now?" Ash moaned and then turned back to Gary. "I've got a Full House. What about you?"

"Two pair." Gary whispered not wanting to interrupt the fight that was occurring.

"Happy now? You except me to be happy now? You're doing it again! Lying to us, like you did with Lass! I don't even know if I can trust you anymore!" Misty screamed as blood-red soaked her once sea-blue eyes.

Gathering his winnings, Ash bit his lip. He didn't want for her or anyone to find about that. Couldn't they just accept that he had secrets that just couldn't be voiced? "I wasn't lying; I just didn't tell you because you didn't need to know."

"I didn't need to know! You have become such a crafty person, Ash! You aren't the person that I used to know." Misty snarled before continuing. "Tell me right now. What is the meaning of this note?"

"Oh, it's just something about my former life." Ash quickly replied as he got up and jumped on one of the two beds in the room. "Here, can I please get some sleep?"

"Trying to avoid the issue, aren't we?" Misty blamed. "This is about Lass, isn't it?"

"If you really want to know, then, yes, ok?" Ash quickly responded before he closed his eyes and pretended to drift off to sleep. "Good night."

Misty shook her head. She knew that Ash was desperately trying to stop the argument, but she had to know. He couldn't keep this information to himself. "Those excuses may work on my sisters, but they won't work on me. I want… no, we need to know. What does 'You can't fake it anymore' mean?"

"I used to fake that I couldn't do something in front of Lass. Now she knows that I can do it. Since we've gotten that matter out of the way, I'll see you all in the morning." Ash hastily explained hoping that this will stop Misty.

Unfortunately, it didn't. In fact, it infuriated Misty even more with more questions. "What was it that you were faking?"

"Nothing." Ash whispered and closed his eyes. His horrible memories impounded him once again. They were becoming harder and harder to keep confidential.

Misty coolly glared at him with bitterness engraved on her face. "I won't take that as an answer. Would you stop side-stepping the issue and tell us?"

Feeling the wrath of evil remembrances within his head, Ash frantically tried to keep his sanity. "Get off my case! I wouldn't tell you! Can't you get that through your thick skull, Misty?"

Marching straight up to Ash's side, Misty roared. "You are going to tell us this very instant! I'm sick and tried of all of these pathetic excuses. Say it!"

"No!" Ash screamed in panic and arouse from his position off the bed. The others gasped in surprise at Ash's demeanor. His expression was completely devoid of emotion with one exception, his eyes. His eyes sliced into vision with a different hue than before. Silvery blue replaced chocolate brown.

Misty, for once in her life, was speechless. She backed away in alarm and whispered timidly. "Ash, your eyes… what's going on?"

Its curiosity arisen by its master's cries, Pikachu scampered into the room still clasping the tiny ketchup bottle in its paws. "(Ash… what? It's happening again…)"

Somehow regaining control over some unknown force, Ash plummeted back into a horizontal position on the bed and covered his eyes with his two hands. Somehow sensing that Pikachu was in the room, Ash shrieked. "It worked before. Pikachu thunderbolt now!"

Liberating the ketchup bottle from its tiny paws, Pikachu charged up for an electric shock and aimed it directly at Ash. The wave of yellow-white energy reached its destination and jolted the individual for a moment before running out of power. Pikachu anxiously scurried to Ash's side, hoping that it didn't do too much damage. Ash arose from his location on the bed and removed his hands away from his eyes. Thankfully, they returned back to their normal dark-brown tint. After getting over the initial shock, Ash quickly looked down at his faithful pet. "Thanks Pikachu." Glaring at Misty, he jumped to his feet and walked straight up to her. "Don't **_ever_** do that again! Do you know how seriously hurt you could have gotten!"

"Wh… what?" Misty mumbled still suck in a state of disbelief.

Resting his hands on her shoulders, Ash speedily pushed her out into the hallway. "Ok, the show's over. There, you know my secret; you know what I was hiding. So, would you just leave already?"

"I don't have a slight clue of what just happened!" Misty replied in despair, finally emancipated from her preliminary shock. "You have some explaining to do."

"Actions speak louder than words." Ash stated with a lethal undertone in his voice. He then tried to close the door but Misty stopped his actions.

"Don't even think about shutting me out now! What in the world just happened now?" Misty demanded as she forcefully opened the door to its full amount.

Ash glared at her threatening. "Figure it out yourself."

"Ash, come on! We are all your friends! You can tell us anything." Misty pleaded.

Ash shook his head. "Not this. Go talk to Lass if you're so interested. She'll give you a wonderful, in depth explanation." He tried once again to close the door, but with no luck.

Misty vigorously reentered the room. "Ash, just tell…"

"You don't get it, do you? If I tell you, you'll never understand what it means. If I tell you, you'll never look at me the same way again. If I tell you, everything changes, and I do mean everything…" Ash mumbled softly. "Just get out while you still have the chance. The less you know about me, the better."

"It's too late now, Ash. The time is now. There is one thing that will always be the same throughout this entire mission: you, me, Gary, Giselle and Brock will always stick together." Misty sighed trying to make Ash understand something that she has always known.

Ash, however, only shook his head. "When I mean everything changes, I mean everything changes. Don't depend on simply morals like friendship to help you get through life; they _never_ help." Sinking his head to the ground, Ash whispered. "I think that you should go now, Misty."

Misty's eyes slowly welled up with tears at the hopelessness in Ash's voice. "But Ash, I'm just trying to help…"

"And I'm just trying to do the same. Get out of here Misty. Get out." Ash icily spoke with every word piercing the hearts of the others like a knife.

Misty tried to control her emotions with difficulty. "Ash, please…"

"**_I SAID GET OUT!_**" Ash bellowed literally at the top of his voice. As Misty took a few nervous steps back in fear, Ash slammed the door shut on her traumatized face. He then dejectedly staggered back to his bed and collapsed facedown on it. Pikachu ran to his side and nuzzled him for support. Seeing that Ash wanted to be left alone, Gary and Giselle sneaked away from the room and into the hallway where Misty was still rooted in a daze.

"Misty, are you all right?" Giselle sympathetically inquired and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure that he didn't mean it. He's just going through a tough time in his life." Gary added softly.

Misty, who still had her eyes set on the door, narrowed her eyes and turned around. "Why should I care if he wants to be a baby about this? Let him stay locked in that room for as long as he wants!" Misty raised her voice in order for Ash to hear her. "How dare you Ash Ketchum! I **_never_** want to speak to you again! I hate you!"

Hearing this, Ash raised his head and shouted back. "The feeling's mutual!"

Bursting with uncontrollable rage, she then trampled back to her own room and banged the door shut.

*~*~*~*~*

Too shocked to speak or even breath for that matter, Gary and Giselle walked out of the hallway in awe at the events that just transpired. The shock didn't leave their faces when they entered the same room that Misty had been beforehand. They simply sat down on the couch waiting for the other one to comment.

"What in the world just happened?" Daisy asked as she and her other two sisters walked into the room. "We heard a lot of commotion in the guest rooms."

"Oh, just another Ash and Misty fight." Gary quietly stated, belittling the unusual fight into nothing more than a daily routine.

"Oh." The sisters chanted in unison. Seeing that Gary and Giselle didn't wish to comment on it further, the sisters left the room.

Gary covered his face with his two hands. "I guess we now know what 'Ash's secret' is."

"But what was it really? Was it that stuff that we saw back in Mt. Moon?" Giselle questioned bubbling with curiosity.

"Maybe more…" Gary's voice trailed off for a moment trying to get the facts straight in his head.

"Yea, maybe." Giselle faintly whispered. Her eyes slowly examined the room in detail and caught sight of a nearby videophone and a fax machine. Remembering their earlier conversation with Pro. Oak and Joe, Giselle strolled over to the fax machine. Sitting on top of it was a piece of paper. Pulling the paper out, Giselle realized that it was the map that Joe promised to fax to them beforehand. "Well, it looks like Joe came through on his word. Here's the map of the Serpent's HQ."

"The map!? I almost forgot about that!" Gary exclaimed and raced over to Giselle's side. Taking the map from her, he inspected it as a slow crafty smile came to his face. "Hey Giselle. I just got the greatest idea."

Giselle gazed at him with a slightly bored expression dawning her face. "And what would that be?"

"Why don't we check it out, without Ash and Misty?" Gary questioned still retaining an evil grin on his lips.

Giselle blinked at him in astonishment. "Without them? But why? We're a team and we should stick together. Besides, we even told Ash back at the hospital today that we shouldn't go there today."

"But if we go with them, then they'll just argue nonstop! We aren't going to get the cure for Brock if we sit around and wait for them to stop arguing. Come on! Let's do something exciting by ourselves! They'll never expect us!" Gary shouted just loud enough to show his excitement but not loud enough to disturb Ash, Misty or Misty's sisters.

Giselle, however, shook her head. "I don't think so Gary. Besides, those two ought to be able to work things out by tomorrow. They have done so in the past."

"Fine, believe what you want to believe. My thinking is that with an argument this big, it'll take them at least a day, under normal circumstances, to work things out." Gary sighed finally understanding that Giselle wasn't going to budge an inch about her decision.

Slightly worried at the fact that Gary gave up so easily on her, Giselle timidly inquired. "Does that mean that you're still going?"

Gary nodded his head. "You bet. I'm going to leave when the clock strikes midnight."

"But that's only in 10 minutes!" Giselle desperately called. "Are you serious about this? You're just going to abandon the group like that?"

"Somebody has to get some work done around here for a change. Arguing can only last for so long before it tears a group apart. If you still want to come, meet me by the front door at 12." Gary then marched back to his room in order to pick up some supplies.

*~*~*~*~*

"Misty, you weren't serious about hating Ash, were you?" Giselle nervously questioned Misty as she entered the room that they were planning on sharing for the night.

Misty, who had been brushing her long reddish hair, sighed. "I've never been more serious in my entire life. If Ash had some power, or whatever, for all this time then why didn't he tell us about it?"

"But, hating him? Come on, Misty! That's being a little harsh, isn't it? You're just hurt because he never told you about it like he would have done when he was younger." Giselle soothingly asserted.

Pausing for a moment, due to the emergence of a knot within her locks of hair, Misty growled back. "How dare you tell me how I feel! You don't even know me at all!"

"I know you better than you think." Giselle quickly murmured under her breath. In a louder voice, Giselle added. "Aren't you going to speak to him? You do know that we all have to work together as a team, don't you?"

"Oh, to heck with the team! If he doesn't want to talk to me, then I don't want to talk to him!" Misty cried in a shrill high-pitched tone. She then went back to trying to remove all those annoying knots within her lovely hair.

Giselle realized what a waste of time that was and walked out of the room. Maybe this was one fight that Ash and Misty couldn't solve on their own.

Gazing at Ash's door, Giselle knew that it was a lost cause to even try to talk some sense into him. If he was willing to keep this secret from them this whole time, then he certainly wasn't willing to apologize to Misty, who had forced this secret out of him.

Giselle started wandering around the house until she glanced up at a nearby clock. It was only a minute or so before midnight. She quickly sprinted back into her room to gather her stuff before dashing to the front door. There, Gary was patiently waiting with a map in his hand and a bag of all his stuff in the other. "Changed your mind?" Gary coolly questioned.

Giselle merely nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Gary grinned at her and placed a note on a table close by. "Come on then." He and Giselle soon walked out of the place as the large doors creaked to a close behind them.

*~*~*~*~*

The bright sun shone in through an open window as Pikachu stirred in its sleep. A warm blanket of heat wrapped around its body as Pikachu's eyes fluttered open. After a moment of tossing and turning from one side of its body to the next, Pikachu finally completely awoke. Its gaze soon shifted over to his sleepy master. The night had been a long one for both of them. "(Come on Ash. Rise and shine!)"

Ash gradually blinked his eyes open. A heavy yawn escaped his lips as he changed his position in the bed and moaned. "Not now Pikachu. It's too… too… too early."

Seeing a clock on the wall, Pikachu accurately read the time as 8:00. That wasn't too early! "(I can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice.)"

Even in his awake/asleep mood, Ash could still subconsciously feel the electric sparks dashing across Pikachu's cherry red cheeks. Knowing from experience that this meant that Pikachu was powering up for an attack, Ash quickly sprung out of bed in a drowsy daze. "Ok, ok… I'm up. No thunderbolts this morning, please."

Pikachu smiled in satisfaction at it accomplishment. "(All right sleepy head. Nap time's over. Time to get to work!)"

"Whatever." Ash mumbled still not quite fully awake.

"(So, are you still going to deny your power?)" Pikachu straightforwardly questioned.

Ash sighed for a moment. "I guess I can't, can I? It's just that… I never wanted it. Kind of hoped that if I deny it… I'd be normal… like everyone else. Know what I mean?"

"(Ash, you're a special person… Lass saw that and so do I. Never be ashamed of yourself, ok?)" Pikachu encouraged soothingly. 

A smile graced Ash's lips. "Thanks buddy, that's all I needed to hear."

Pikachu grinned for a moment before getting the feeling that someone was missing. "(Hey, wasn't Gary supposed to share a room with you?)"

Ash nodded. "Yea, he was… wait, where did he go?" Thinking about that for a few minutes, Ash sighed. "He's probably an early riser. Nothing to worry about."

*~*~*~*~*

"Have you three seen Giselle? She didn't sleep in my room last night." Misty casually asked her sisters and was disappointed with the three simultaneously head shakes from side to side.

"Hey guys! Do you know where Gary is? I can't find…" Ash's voice trailed off as he walked into the room. His eyes immediately switched from lethargic to lethal as he noticed that Misty was there as well.

Misty's body visibly shook in disgust at the sight of the newcomer. Ignoring Ash, she briskly turned her back towards him and asked her sisters. "Daisy, Lily and Violet, have any of you seen Giselle at all day?"

"No, sorry. Can't say that I have." Lily nervously responded, clearly uncomfortable at the sudden chill in the room. "Here, I'm going to go and take a shower… like now… yeah… that makes sense." Lily slowly backed out of the room and practically sprinted to a nearby bathroom.

Violet gazed at her sister with envy shimmering in her eyes. She wanted to get of here… right now. "Um… yeah. I've got to go… oh, what do you call it? You know? Do that thing in the morning… that… you know… you know, right?"

"No, we…" Pausing for a moment, remembering who the "we" stood for, Ash murmured. "No, _I_ don't know what you mean."

"Um… well, that… hair appointment. I know! I've got to prep my hair for a hair appointment in an hour… yeah, that's sounds right. Oh, and… um… Daisy like… yeah… you know… also has a hair appointment today. Yep… come on, Daisy. Let's go and prep our hair now." Violet anxiously stammered and grabbed the arm of her sister as they tried to make their escape.

"You need to prep your hair? Why do you need to prep your hair for a hair appointment?" Ash asked sardonically, knowing all too well what a bad lie that was.

Misty gazed at her sisters for a moment. "Doesn't Daisy get her hair done every Sunday?"

"Um… yeah… she does." Violet sighed realizing what an awful lie she had just said. Talking directly in Daisy's ear, Violet whispered uneasily. "I tried. Guess you're on own. Good luck."

"Thanks." Daisy mumbled ungratefully. Turning back to the infuriated pair, Daisy tensely smiled. "So, Gary and Giselle are missing? That's too bad. Why don't I go and look for them, ok?"

"Don't even think about it." Misty stated with a deadly glow echoing through her vocal cords. She certainly didn't want to be alone and in the same room as… _him_. "Stay with us a while longer."

Realizing that she was trapped, Daisy nodded. "Oh fine." After a moment's pause, she leisurely inquired. "Why don't you talk to that old scientist dude like you were doing yesterday? He might know something."

"Why that's an excellent idea, Daisy." Ash commented in his politest tone in order to rub it in Misty's face. "Wait a sec! They talked to Pro. Oak yesterday? Do you know why they did that Daisy?"

"Daisy, can you tell Ash that I, along with Gary and Giselle, called Pallet town when he was busy having 'fun' with you and our other sisters." Misty spitefully sneered.

Daisy glanced at her in surprise. "But Ash wasn't here when you made that call. He was out doing an errand."

"What! What in the world were you doing at that hour of the night, As… I mean, Daisy can you ask Ash that question." Misty stuttered, catching her error in due time.

Ash quietly smiled at Misty's mistake before answering the question. "Well, Daisy, you can tell Misty that if she's so curious about my activities last night, then she should ask me herself."

"Daisy, can you tell Ash that he's being a pig-head for not answering the question." Misty growled in irritation.

Ash huffed crossly. "Well, Daisy, tell Misty that she should stop sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

Misty glared at Ash before turning to her sister. "Daisy, tell Ash that…"

"Oh enough already!" Daisy shouted irately. "Would you two stop being so childish and actually talk to each other? I'm leaving this room right now because I can't stand seeing you two bicker like an old married couple!" Showing that she really meant it, Daisy stomped out of the room.

"We do not sound like an old married couple!" Ash and Misty cried in unison, but by then Daisy was well out of hearing distance.

An awkward tense moment passed before Misty thoughtfully spoke. "Brock once said something similar to that about us." However, she made sure that her eyes were on the floor and not on the other occupant in the room.

"It was exactly 6 years ago. I can still remember that conversation because it was the last that I ever had with... well, you know."Ash sighed wistfully. Even after all these years, the subject was still too painful to talk about.

Misty nervously twitched her fingers. The sorrow in Ash's voice betrayed his feelings on the matter. She then walked over to their videophone and dialed the number of Oak Labs. A sleepy form materialized on the screen, cast in a ridiculous set of pajamas with little Clefairys dotting the attire. With a tiny pink hat on his head, Ash and Misty got a glance at Pro. Oak's "feminine side". "Hello?" The pink Pro. Oak yawned.

"Why hello Pro. Oak! I love the outfit! Is it new?" Ash snickered mockingly at the world famous scientist on the other end of the line.

Misty giggled and decided to take advantage of this opportunity as well. "I've got a shade of lipstick that would look great with that!"

"Huh?" Pro. Oak sluggishly asked before he widened his eyes at the sight of Ash and Misty's amused faces. "What are you two doing calling so early?"

"It's only around… 8:30." Ash stated. "Besides, we have a little problem over here."

"What is it? Did something happen to Brock? Is everyone all right?" Pro. Oak worriedly mumbled as he shook the drowsiness out of his system.

Misty shook her head. "No… everyone's fine… well, at least we hope so…"

"Um, sir, Gary and Giselle are missing. I think that they took off last night but we have no idea where they could be now." Ash summoned up the situation in as few words as possible.

"Oh, that is a problem…" Pro. Oak nodded as he started contemplating a solution. "Well, is there a note?"

Ash widened in his eyes. Did they leave a note? "Well… can't be sure. We haven't exactly checked and all…"

"I'm on it." Misty declared as she raced back to the two guest rooms. Perhaps they had left a note in there.

"I was wondering if they might have called you or anything like that." Ash uttered, hoping that he had a helpful clue of some sort.

Pro. Oak nervously scratched his head. "Sorry Ash. There were no calls placed here after that check-up call by Misty, Gary and Giselle."

"Hey Pro. Oak. Who are you talking to… Ash? What's up?" Joe just walked in and marched up to the videophone. "Did you guys get my map of the Serpent's HQ?"

"Map? You sent a map?" Ash inquired in alarm. Gazing at the nearby fax machine, Ash sighed. "I don't see a map in the fax machine."

"What?! But I sent it yesterday! I know I did!" Joe cried in distress.

Misty then came back into the room, still searching for a note. She smiled to herself when she found a piece of paper on the table closest to the door. "Looks like there was a note."

"Oh, there you are Misty. Did you take the map I sent you?" Joe inquired with worry draped in his voice. He started to sweat profusely and his body anxiously quivered; he was really stressed about that missing map.

"You sent it? I didn't see it here this morning…" Misty pensively conversed as her eyes quickly dashed over the note in her hand. "But I think I know who did…"

"Who?" Pro. Oak inquired as if the answer wasn't that obvious.

Misty took a deep breath before speaking. "This is a note from Gary and Giselle. It says that they are raiding the Serpent's HQ without us. It seems that they took the map and that they promised that they would return only after they get Brock's cure."

"Yea… if they can get away with their lives. How could they be so stupid!" Ash cried in frustration. He busily paced around the room starting a one-on-one conversation with himself. "They don't get it, do they? Lass can and will kill them without thinking twice… unless, no. She wouldn't use them for blackmail, would she? Perhaps she'll set up a trap… actually that makes sense. If she wants to get to me, then she needs some bait. Great, just great. Now, she'll be expecting us."

"Um Ash? Are you all right?" Pro. Oak apprehensively called. He had never seen Ash so agitated before.

"Sure. I'm on top of the world." Ash scoffed sardonically, more to himself than to the others. Seeing the weird look on everyone's face, Ash quickly stumbled. "I'm going to talk to Pikachu. If we are going to rescue Gary and Giselle, might as well have a plan first." Ash then raced out of the room faster than a spaceship trying to leave the Earth's gravitational pull.

Misty blinked her eyes in a slight state of confusion. "I guess I should go as well. Talk to you all later." Hanging up the phone, Misty then dejectedly gazed down at the floor before moaning to herself. "Now we have three friends whose lives hang in the balance. We need a miracle to get out this situation, either that or death…"

*~*~*~*~*

Misty yawned. It wasn't the kind of yawn that occurs only when a person is in dire need of some sleep. No, instead, this yawn was caused out of plain boredom; the kind of boredom you have when you have absolutely nothing to do. Rather than being drained of energy, Misty was jammed pack with excess vigor. Deciding to break her oath of not talking to Ash, once again, Misty gazed at her companion. "Are you sure that you know the way there?"

Continuing his pace, Ash simply sighed. "Do you have to doubt everything I say? Yes, of course I know where the Serpent's HQ is! My memory isn't that bad!"

"Sheesh. I was just trying to make conversation." Misty responded and vainly attempted another conversation. "So, any chance that you'd be willing to talk about your 'secret'?"

"(Come on, Ash. You should tell her all we know about it.)" Pikachu advised wisely.

Ash nodded. Although he still didn't fully believe it, Ash decided that he might as well blurt it out anyway. "Well, frankly, I'm not quite sure myself what it is, but I can tell you that Lass plays a big role in it."

"Lass? What does she have to do with anything?" Misty growled softly. It was clear that she didn't like Lass in the least bit.

The story was a little different with Ash. All his years with her created a sense of tolerance and even a little bit of fondness towards her. He set his eyes on the ground before replying. "Like me, she also has this… I guess you could call it 'a gift'. It's some type of psychic power, I think. This power only gets stronger when you train… sort of like pokemon attacks. She is the one that told me about it in the beginning, but I never really believed her until that trip to Mt. Moon."

Misty nodded her head, indicating that she understood him, for the most part. "So that explains what happened at Mt. Moon and your unusual behavior there." Letting her brain process the information, she then questioned. "Was that dream just an excuse then?"

"Yep." Ash raised his head up and grinned for a moment. The ocean shore, which they had been following, abruptly stopped due to a giant stonewall stretching far into the distance. The duo strolled all the way until they reached the point of intersection between the natural ocean and the man-made wall. "Good. We're right on schedule."

"What? This isn't the Serpent's HQ? This is a dead end!" Misty cried bewilderedly.

Ash, however, just shook his head. "A dead end? That's what people thought before the invention of the boat came along. Only with the boat did the seas become roads rather than barriers and…"

"Ok, enough with the history lesson." Misty exclaimed with a dismayed look on her face. "What's the point?"

"This is where we'll be needing your help. You have a water pokemon that can carry people, don't you?" Ash inquired knowing the answer to his question beforehand.

Misty grinned finally realizing Ash's idea. "Oh, I get what your saying." Stroking her fingers along her belt, she seized two pokeballs from her belt. "I have the two perfect candidates. Go Dewgong and Feraligatr!"

Two aquatic pokemon lunged out of their confinement and bounced straight onto the shoreline. We are already quite familiar with the beautiful white seal pokemon known as Dewgong and obviously Misty's favorite. Feraligatr, however, was quite the contrast to graceful and playful seal. A menacing green and blue color encircled the creature's body with the exception of red shiny pointed spikes along its back and a pale white underbelly. Ominous jagged teeth pierced into its lips while pointed slick claws retracted out of its limbs. The creature patiently eyed its master looking remarkably similar to the giant beast known as a crocodile.

"Feraligatr? One of the newly discovered creatures? Why that's excellent! This one, in particular, looks like its in top-notch shape." Ash praised as he admiringly gazed at Feraligatr.

Misty's lips transformed into a smile. "Yes, I do raise my pokemon well."

"Ok, now that we have the transportation, we need a distraction. Let's see… what pokemon should I use from my invincible team?" Ash arrogantly gloated while carefully thinking about his choice.

"Invincible team? Oh please! What about your Caterpie?" Misty taunted, remembering when she first laid eyes on that bug back in Viridian.

Ash grinned and took out the pokeball that contained the little pokemon. "Oh yea, I almost forgot about it. In fact, it'll be a perfect distraction! Thanks for the idea! You know what to do _Caterpie_." Soaring from his fingers, the pokeball landed and opened to reveal a little caterpillar creature.

"Ahhhh! Get that away from me!" Misty screamed as she backed up behind Ash. Noticing the glare from his direction, she huffed. "Sorry! It's a force of habit. I just can't stand the sight of bugs!"

"Well, you didn't seem to mind Butterfrees." Ash commented and turned to his pokemon. "Change into a Butterfree, for Misty's sake, will you?" Amazingly enough, the pokemon agreed and skipped its next evolutionary step by transforming straight from a Caterpie to a stunning Butterfree, the butterfly pokemon.

Misty gasped in alarm. "But… how? That's… not possible…"

Ash smiled and turned to his newly "evolved" pokemon and spoke. "Ok, let's show her your true form Ditto."

"A Ditto?" Misty inquired and sure enough the "Butterfree" changed into a purple amoeba-shaped pokemon know as a Ditto. "Wait a second! You tricked me!"

Ash laughed heartily. "No, I use this trick in all my battles. Ditto has become an expert on transforming without needing to see an object directly in front of it. I trained it so that whenever I throw down Ditto's pokeball, I call out a name of a pokemon and it transforms right away. That way the enemy is totally clueless to the fact that I own a Ditto."

"Oh." Misty sighed and mumbled. "Actually, that's a good strategy. So, what is it going to transform into?"

Ash thought for a moment. "Let's see… has to distract the guards so, it has to be really big and have the ability to fly… um… well… how about… no, that won't work. Hey Ditto. What do you think you should transform into?"

"(What about those really big Dragon creatures?)" Ditto squeaked.

Ash nodded his head. "Actually, that's a good idea, Ditto."

"Huh? I thought that you could only understand Pikachu?" Misty questioned confusedly.

"That's what I thought too but lately I'm able to understand what practically all pokemon are saying. Weird huh?" Ash sighed. Directing his attention back to Ditto, Ash instructed. "Ditto, transform into a Dragonite, please." 

The little amoeba blob concurred and a blinding light flashed around itself. Slowly, it elongated its body until it formed a tail, a pair of wings and an intense face of a mythological dragon. Ash smiled in satisfaction. "Good work Ditto. Now, use your speed to distract the guards and the others in the building. Circle HQ and try not to hurt anyone unless you are forced to. Good luck, my friend."

The magnificent monster flapped its delicate wings and soared into the crisp air. Testing its new vocal cords Ditto screamed into the sky. "(Thanks, but I won't need it!)" Ditto/Dragonite flew over the lofty wall and into the blinding light of the sun to complete its mission.

"Shall we get going?" Misty insisted as she climbed on the back of her beloved Dewgong.

"Oh yea. Follow my lead." Ash ordered as he tried to seat himself upon the vicious crocodile beast. Unfortunately, the brutal pokemon snapped its head back in defense, showing it dazzling white teeth to an alarmed Ash. "Misty! Call this creature off!"

Misty giggled disdainfully at Ash. "Oh, Feraligatr, it's all right! Let him ride you, ok? Don't kill him just yet." The creature snarled in obedience and patiently waited for Ash to climb onto his back. When Ash did so, Feraligatr and Dewgong both swam into the murky water, careful not to down the sensitive humans on their backs.

*~*~*~*~*

"Get some rest you two. Dewgong, Feraligatr, return!" Misty shouted as she stored her pets back into their pokeballs. Examining the area in detail, she discovered that a compact fleet of trees surrounded and engulfed them. Darkness descended here, regardless of the fact that it was daylight; the trees almost completely blocked the sun's rays. Clumps of dense bushes lined the ground making it almost impossible to walk around here. Misty gazed in surprise at the dense forest that she was in, while the violent ocean slammed below her against the rocky coast. "What are we doing here?"

Ash took out his small sword and starting cutting a path within the forest. "This is the backway into the building. No one goes this way because of the thick vegetation here. However, it's a short cut and should get us there pretty quickly."

"All right…" Misty hesitantly responded as she followed Ash's lead into the thick forest that was just shy of being a rainforest. They walked in silence for close to 20 minutes; the only noticeable sounds were Ash's sword hacking away at the plant life, their heavy footsteps and the cry of a Dragonite in the distance. "Sounds like Ditto is giving the guards the time of their lives."

"Was there ever a doubt?" Ash smirked as he cut down the last of the foliage within the small compact forest. The brilliant sunlight shimmered from above, blinding both Ash and Misty in the process until their pupils adjusted to the light.

"That's the Serpent's HQ?" Misty questioned in surprise as she pointed to an old rusty building straight ahead. "It looks more like an ancient factory to me."

Ash nodded his head in agreement. "Actually, you're right. It used to be a power plant that housed rare and powerful electric pokemon before the Serpents took it over." The pair then walked straight up to the building. The guards that were supposed to be protecting it were being soaked by water gun, electrocuted by thunder and burned by a fire blast from the powerful Dragonite. "Let's see… there's a secret door around here… somewhere…"

He started tapping the walls while Misty stared in curiosity at a certain spot on the wall. Wondering if her imagination was playing tricks on her or if she really was seeing a door, Misty pushed on the spot on the wall. The wall quivered for a second before creating an opening. "And Misty does the impossible once again!" Misty smiled conceitedly.

"Oh please." Ash murmured in dissatisfaction at Misty's childish behavior. Gazing at Pikachu, who had been on his shoulder throughout the entire trip, he grabbed a small pokeball from his belt with a little symbol of a thunderbolt on it. "Pikachu, I don't want you to get hurt. Please, get inside. Lass is a dangerous woman… I have no idea what she'll do to you or even me for that matter if we get caught. I'd rather that you'd be safe."

"(But…)" Pikachu whispered, his voice crackling with emotion. He knew that Ash would never force him into staying in a pokeball unless there was a perilous situation. Face his fear of pokeballs or listen to Ash's intelligent order… Mustering up all the courage he could get, Pikachu sighed "(Not for long, though.)"

Ash smiled at Pikachu. "Agreed." The yellow rat soon transformed into red light and dissolved back into its pokeball for the first time in 11 years. Trying to shut out the tears that were threatening to fall, Ash delicately placed his companion on his belt for the first time in his entire life. "Ok, let's go." The duo strolled into the building towards one unforgettable battle. 

*~*~*~*~*

"So, let me get this straight. You thought that the two of you could merely walk straight into here, unalarmed, and simply take the cure to Stellar? Is that correct?" Lass cried in amazement at stupidity of her two prisoners.

Gary and Giselle were bond, hand and foot, on the floor and nodded in unison at the question. "How did you know that we were coming?" Gary inquired, managing to loosen the tough cloth tied around his mouth.

Lass shook her head. "I wasn't excepting you to come! I was expecting Ash."

Giselle panted now that she had also coped with the problem of getting the cloth off her lips. "Does that mean that you're Lass?"

"The one and only." Lass egotistically replied.

"Um… Master, there is trouble outside." A young Serpent agent quietly mumbled. "There is a huge Dragonite attacking. Some are trying to capture it, but its just too quick. It's wiping out rows and rows of all of our best pokemon."

"Well, now that is a problem." Lass stated with more than a pinch of scorn in her voice. "Send out the weakest pokemon you have now. Only when the Dragonite is looking tired, then send out the best pokemon that we've got."

"Yes, Master. Right away." The youthful villain hurriedly raced out of the room, thankful that Lass wasn't in one of her bad moods.

Lass gazed in thought at the door. "Well, that must be a high-level Dragonite… in fact, too high of a level…" Walking over to a nearby table, Lass found a small microphone. "All agents please clear out of the building and deal with that Dragonite. It would be advisable that you evacuate the building immediately and try to stay as far away from the HQ as possible." Pausing for a moment, Lass added. "And forget rule #31 at this time. If anyone is to follow this rule during the next few hours, I will personally see to it that your deaths be slow and painful." Lass then placed the microphone down and gazed at her prisoners.

"You're the boss of the Serpent Clan!" Gary cried in alarm, as suspicious thoughts bounced around in his head.

"It's Master by the way, but as my enemies, I'll give you the honor of calling me Lass." Lass haughtily answered.

"Gee… what an honor." Giselle whispered under her breath. In a louder voice, she screeched. "What's rule #31?

Lass' eyes glazed back and a wicked smile materialized on her lips. "Kill all intruders on the spot."

"Then, why didn't you kill us?" Gary demanded.

"I needed bait." Lass simply replied. "Ash should probably be in the building by now. I don't really know why he came, though. You two aren't worth the trouble."

Giselle snarled at the slick ways of this woman. Like Misty, she did not like Lass in the least bit. "What makes you say that Ash is here?"

Lass grinned malevolently. "You could call it a sixth sense."

*~*~*~*~*

"Out of my way!" The man, who was easily identifiable as a Serpent agent by his tattoo, roughly pushed Ash out of the way. "Consider this your lucky day; you're still alive." He then marched out of the hall with hatred seeping into his cursed soul.

Ash stared at Misty confusedly. "Ok, that's the third person that has said something like that to us. Why aren't they trying to kill us?"

"Could it have something it do with that message over the intercom?" Misty questioned, expressing the only answer that she could think of.

"Maybe you're right." Ash simply sighed. "Let's try opening some of these doors."

Misty nodded and tried her luck with the nearest door, but it was locked. Another door revealed the same result as did another one and the one after that. "Ok, this is pointless." Misty growled and tried another door. She couldn't have been more surprised when the door actually opened and right in the middle of the room was Gary and Giselle helplessly trying to struggle out of their bonds. "Well, looks like today is our lucky day."

Misty raced straight over to her friends and tried untying the ropes another their hands and legs with no luck. Ash barely took one step inside when a nasty, foreboding feeling sizzled down his spine. "Misty, get away from them. Something is wrong."

Ignoring Ash's anxious shrieks, Misty desperately tried pulling off the piece of cloth around Gary's mouth that had been tightly fastened very recently. The slow and tedious work of removing the cloth paid off when it slipped off his mouth. However, the first words that echoed out his lips were, "Run! It's a trap! Get out of here, **_now!_**"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late as Misty was enclosed in a jet-black bubble and was thrown across the room. This quickly left Misty vulnerable as glowing black cuffs of dark energy swirled around her wrists and her ankles, leaving her trapped on the floor. Her struggles against the powerful invisible force only inflicted more pain on her body.

"Misty!" Ash cried in panic finally breaking out of his state of shock. He tried to race towards her, but a barely discernible black mist blocked the path towards her and formed a translucent yet blackish barrier. Ash tried to barge through the black wall but was surprised when he discovered that it was solid. Deciding that the next course of action would be to rescue Gary and Giselle, he started sprinted towards his friends. The dark energy in the room seemed to realize that, for it quickly pushed the powerless pair to the other side of the large room. Like with Misty, a wall arose out of thin air, composed of a transparent black haze that was as hard as stone. "Show yourself, Lass!"

Teleporting into the room with vibes of shadowy black fog following her every step, Lass maliciously smiled back at Ash. "Your wish is my command."

"Enough of these games and jokes!" Ash screamed as fury rippled through his body. "I'm tired of all of this! Because of you, I've been almost killed more times than I'd like to remember."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You won't die for a while." Lass hastily passed off Ash's complaints before growling. "You are finally ready to face me in battle, Ash. You can't deny that you have the power too."

Ash bit his lip for a moment as his anger dissipated for a moment. "As much as I'd like to… you're right. I can't deny it. However, a battle is useless, Lass. Just let my friends and me go."

"You certainly don't seem to be in the right position to make demands." Lass gently reminded him. "Besides, battles are never pointless."

Ash shook his head. "In a battle, someone always gets hurt."

From her delicate fingers, Lass directed a blackish wind towards her opponent. It sliced Ash with its sinister force like a razor. The sheer strength of the attack alone would kill most individuals in one punch. However, this certainly wasn't the case with Ash. The only evidence for the attack was a small nick on his left cheek, but not even a single drop of blood poured out of it. "That's why you must try to hurt back."Lass called, knowing all too well that the attack wouldn't harm Ash.

Instead of retaliating or backing off, Ash stood his ground. "Fighting is senseless. It's uncalled for and unwise."

"Come on, Ash! Too chicken to fight me!" Lass taunted and blasted numerous black stars towards Ash. Though a number of them viciously pierced through Ash's body, he still made no move to fight. However, the attack was much more powerful than the last one for abundant cuts formed all over his sore body. The strike clearly weakened Ash, but he was far from out of the game.

"How many times do I have to tell you! I'm not going to fight you! You might as well kill me now because I'm not going to battle you, Lass!" Ash yelled in rage, hoping that she'll finally understand what he has always believed as true.

"I didn't want to do this, but it looks like I have no choice." Lass sighed. She extended her hands and created two deadly black blasts of wind, the same attack that she had just used on Ash. However, this time, it was aiming for his friends. One of the two dark energy entities swirled towards Misty, while the other one set its sights on Gary and Giselle. Just as the attacks were about to collide with the individuals, two streams of pastel blue materialized, creating a barrier that blocked the ferocious wind. Misty, Gary and Giselle all sighed in gratefulness at Ash who had that funny look in his eyes again.

"This is between you and me. Leave them out of it." Ash malevolently spoke with resentment flooding his voice.

Lass innocently gazed at Ash. "But where would the fun be in that? They were stupid enough to join you so let them deal with the consequences."

"We are not stupid!" Misty growled in self-defense.

"Misty, stay out of this." Ash softly spoke. His brain started going into overdrive as he tried to think of a plan to get out of here… he knew that he was in big trouble. It was at this inopportune moment that his mind wandered to Jessie and James and all the trouble they caused him as a kid. He also remembered that they would always use smokescreen in order to attack or escape. Perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea…

"So, Ash, ready to battle, or are you too afraid?" Lass grinned spitefully as she tauntingly dared Ash to make the first move.

Surprise was certainly evident on her face when he actually did prepare for an attack. However, her astonishment was inconceivable at the choice for his first attack. Dark clumps of sapphire smoke fizzled into the room and obstructed the vision of everyone in the room. The black hazy walls dissolved along with the shady handcuffs around Misty's limbs as Lass desperately tried dispose of the annoying clouds of smoke. She slapped the blue fog away from her as her hand started glowing a deadly black. Though his sight was blocked, Ash could still sense the heat from her hand and realized that she was about to inadvertently form a liquid black fire fueled by her own irritation at the smoke. Realizing that fire and smokescreen doesn't mix, he hurriedly tried to teleport his friends and himself out of there.

However, before he could fully complete this move, Lass' impatience with the bluish smoke lead to a flood of blackish flames that met the toxic air. The two elemental forces combined and initiated a vigorous explosion of massive proportion. The intensity of this force completely decimated HQs in a single second. The explosion blasted trillions of particles into the air and even past the Earth's gravitational pull. A sight of fiery destruction quite unlike any other formed a deep crater in the Earth's crust. By the time the dust cleared, a startling view came to sight. Everything was destroyed.

*~*~*~*~*

I'm getting good at these cliffhangers, aren't I? J Oh well… one note though. My next part isn't going to take a while to come out because my teachers are pounding me with hundreds of tests until Winter Break. It's going to be harder to write, but I'll try my best. Anyway, please tell me what you think in your reviews! Oh, and here's a quote:  
  
If you're not using your smile, you're like a man with a million dollars in the bank and no checkbook.

~ Les Giblin ~

Well, that's about it. Don't forget to smile or my little dog will come and get you!


	6. Chapter 5: Switching sides

A/N: I'm really sorry about the delay on this story. But, here it is. I must tell you, this part was probably the toughest chapter to write. I hope that the effort I put into it was worthwhile. Oh, and here's a very short disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. So, without further hesitation, I present you with chapter 5.

A Second Chance

Chapter 5: Switching sides

*~*~*~*~*

Teleportation attack… often a technique used in pokemon battles that serve as a defensive measure in order to avoid an attack. However, it is often hard to control. The results of teleportation can be anywhere from the middle of the ocean, to an unknown city on the other side of the world, or, by chance, right beside the enemy. It takes psychic pokemon and some unique people an incredibly long time to master it. But, under a life and death situation, there's no telling what can happen…

Whether it was by luck or fate, no one will ever know. But, the results were the same either way. Across time and space 5 people somehow teleported themselves out of an exploding building near Cerulean. Where did they end up? That's a tough thing to figure out…

But not impossible…

Misty opened her eyes to the blinding light of the sun that hung directly above her.

It was noon.

But how?

Misty somehow raised her body and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through her like a dozen bullets piercing her skin. Where was she?

Ash, Gary, Giselle… Lass… where were they? Misty, ignoring the immense pain, sat up and examined her surroundings. Small dark purple buildings surrounded her on all sides. A city? What was she doing in a city? Which city?

"Oh… that hurts." A voice… but whose? Misty gritted her teeth against the stabs of throbbing pain and turned her sore head towards the source of the noise.

A female lay on her side and tired, unsuccessfully, to get to her feet. She, however, did manage to get to a sitting position and observe Misty. "Misty? Are you ok?"

"I think so, Giselle." Misty huffed as she used her strong upper torso to get off her back and also into a sitting position. Dull blue eyes sleepily tried to concentrate on the nearby surroundings with very little luck. All that she could make out was more of those dark purple buildings and another silent, motionless figure nearby. Who was that?

"Gary?" Giselle quickly answered her question as she shook Gary's still form. He slowly came to when he opened his cloudy brown pupils. Although breathing, he appeared to be in the worst shape of all of them. No sooner did his eyes open then did they close once again.

Misty desperately tried to stay awake by turning to Giselle and whispering. "Where's Ash and Lass?"

Giselle, who was strong enough to stand up, did so and searched the area. "I don't see them around here."

"Where's here?" Misty uttered before the exhaustion gradually overtook her. She collapsed to the ground with a dreadful thump on her back. Before the darkness engulfed her completely, Misty managed to shift her head and gaze to her left. There, a sign read "Welcome to Lavender Town." With her question answered, the blackness overtook her. She passed out.

*~*~*~*~*

Pain. Everything is so white. Pain. A bed? Pain. What am I doing in bed? Pain. Doctors? Pain. Nurses? Pain. A hospital? Pain. What am I doing in a hospital? Pain. Too much pain. Darkness. And pain.

The doctors were startled for a moment as they glanced at their patient. Did they just see him moving? Did they just see him open his eyes for a moment? No, it was just their imagination. He must still be unconscious. Yes, that makes sense. Perfect sense.

A nurse nearby smiled and shook her head. Doctors… they all can be so stiff at times. They can't even admit that they were wrong and that the patient did in fact regain conscious sooner then they had been expected. True, it was only for a few moments, but still, it was enough to prove them wrong.

The nurse walked into the waiting room where a single worried female paced agitatedly across the floor. Due to the nurse's sudden appearance, the woman stopped her relentless pacing and glanced at the nurse with fresh hope in her eyes. "He's going to be fine." The nurse grinned while the woman sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank you. I really thought that he wasn't going to make it." She cried.

"We have run some blood tests on him and found that he's going to be ok. There was some evidence of suffocation in his lungs, probably due to a fire. Numerous burns marks were found all over his body and frankly, I don't even know how he has been able to survive for so long. However, there some unusual things about this patient that I was hoping that you could explain." The nurse apprehensively stated as she glanced at the medical records in her hands.

The woman gazed at her in curiosity. "What kind of unusual things?"

"Um… well, it appears that his blood has strange properties to it." Seeing that the woman wanted the nurse to continue, she added. "We examined the DNA from his blood under a microscope and found that it is different than normal human DNA."

"In what sense?" The woman demanded.

The nurse fidgeted for a moment. "Ever heard of something called junk DNA? It's genes that really have no important function in the DNA code. In most people, this large portion of DNA is inactivated. But, in him its…" The nurse's voice trailed off for a second. "Large portions of it are not only activated but… they resemble DNA that are only found in pokemon."

Instead of being shocked by this piece of information, the woman simply insisted on more. "So, are you saying that pokemon DNA is situated in all humans in this area called the junk DNA?"

"It could be… although it has never been studied before…" The nurse replied uneasily at such a strange concept. "All I know is that genes that shouldn't be activated in humans are activated in this patient. Is there any chance that you can shed some light on this matter? Has he been exposed to large levels of radiation?"

The woman shook her head in disbelief. Talking more to herself than to the nurse, she sighed. "I can't believe it… the legends are true. Mewtwo was right all along…" Noticing the weird look on the nurse's face, she quickly spoke. "Um… is there any chance that I could see him?"

"Yes, but I'm going to need your name." The nurse declared as she produced a pen out of her pocket.

It was now the woman's turn to get anxious. Her voice suddenly dropped to no more than a silent whisper. "Will this be kept confidential?"

The nurse blinked in surprise before nodding her head. "Yes, of course."

Still finding it hard it trust the nurse, the woman decided that she should hide her identity under a nickname. "Call me Lace."

Lace, better known to all of us as Lass, walked into the hospital room. It was the last time that the hospital ever saw her or the patient, Ash, again.

*~*~*~*~*

"How are my friends doing?" Giselle worriedly questioned, directing her question to a nearby doctor.

Recognizing this girl from before, the doctor sighed. "Well, it appears that your friends are just exhausted and simply inhaled too much smoke into their respiratory systems." Hesitating for a moment, the doctor added. "They were in a fire, right?"

"I guess you could call it that." Giselle murmured.

"Hey Giselle. Any chance that you can tell us why we're in a hospital in Lavender town?" Misty called as she and Gary walked out of a nearby room. The doctor that Giselle was previously conversing with walked away.

Giselle grinned slightly as she tried to explain. "Oh, you two passed out and…"

"Doctor! Doctor! The burn patient that was just brought in has disappeared!" A nurse breathlessly raced into the room and ran into the nearby doctor.

The doctor gently placed two hands on the woman, trying to calm her down. "Ok, slow down. What exactly happened?"

The nurse gasped for air, trying to calm herself down without any success. "I was just talking to the woman that brought him in. She just went into the room and I just checked there 5 minutes later and they're both gone!"

"Gone? Are you telling me that you lost the one of the most unusual individuals in all of mankind?" The doctor screamed in panic. He clearly had some plans for this patient.

"Unusual individual? In what respect?" Gary asked, his scientific interest peeking.

"Oh, he just had some odd properties in his DNA." The doctor quickly hushed the curious trio. Turning back to the alarmed nurse, the doctor inquired. "What was the name of the woman who entered his room?"

"Lace something…" The nurse quickly replied.

**_"LACE!!! YOU MEAN LASS!!!" _**Misty, Gary and Giselle all cried out in surprise.

"Um… I guess so." The nurse quietly mumbled, slightly frightened by the outburst.

Misty backed away in shock. "Ash was in this hospital! Oh… we have the worst possible timing, don't we?"

"Lass must have used teleportation to escape! She could anywhere by now!" Giselle squeaked in dread. "Well, at least we know that they're both alive."

"But where do we start looking for Lass and her Serpent thugs?" Gary moaned in hopelessness.

The doctor, who had remained silent during this strange conversation, spoke up. "Serpents? Talk about a total coincidence."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Giselle demanded.

The doctor sighed. "My son went to battle the gym leader here just the other day…"

"There's a gym in Lavender town?" Misty inquired in amazement. Being a part-time gym leader herself, she was quite upset for not knowing about this.

The doctor shook his head in agreement. "Yep, my son lost that battle too. Anyway, he was mentioning that the gym leader happened to have this strange snake tattoo…"

Once again excluding the nurse and the doctor out of the conversation, Gary interrupted. "Ok, what in the world are Serpent agents doing in Lavender town?"

"And acting as gym leaders too." Misty spitefully remarked. "We better check out this gym. Perhaps the gym leader can tell us where to find Ash."

Not really sure what the discussion was about, the nurse commented. "Well, if you want to visit the gym, turn right and follow the street all the way to the end."

"Then let's get going." Misty ordered and the trio speedily exited the building.

*~*~*~*~*

It only took a moment… one single moment to create the situation… one single moment to change the untold future…

We are all afraid of death, gazing at this inexplicable event with unknown horror. In order to avoid the terror, we try to cheat death with the use of machines.

This case was no exception.

Beep… Beep… The steady hum of the heart-rate monitor bellowed in the background. Complex instruments were piled in a jumbled mess around the bed. Large and small rectangular-shaped machines stacked themselves in all the available space left in the tiny area. Due to the sheer size of these objects, it was easy to see that they must have cost plenty of money.

There were all there in order to prolong one life.

"Where am I?" The famous question asked by numerous people was asked by Ash as he hovered between the world of the living and the world of the dead. His senses picked up noises and bright lights. However, he could neither see any light nor hear any noise. It was like he was here and yet he was somewhere else too.

The place wasn't black in his eyes or any other color for that matter. It was just a place… nothing more, nothing less. Perhaps, he was just too tired to care anymore. Ash soon felt relaxed this unknown location and didn't even bother thinking about his original question now. It didn't really matter. This place was so heavenly, not because of its sights or sounds but because of its peace and bliss. Here, he finally fled from the pain of the real world… forever…

"I have to get back." Well, may be not forever, as can be seen from Ash's thoughts. Simple determination stimulated an unusual sensation in him, a will to live. His will was fueled by the unshakeable notion that he had to see the world again. He had to see his pokemon again; he had to see Misty, Gary, Giselle and Brock again. He had to get out of here.

It was this will to live that caused an abrupt stir in the peaceful scenery. The feelings of hot, bright lights and loud noises doubled their volume. The colorless world dissolved before his very eyes and was replaced by a dizzy sensation. The sensation enveloped his brain and spread throughout his entire body causing a drastic sting of pain. Although he wasn't moving, the feeling of motion suddenly encased him as the pain continued to intensify.

"Oh my God… he's coming to!" Julie cried in shock as Ash's fingers began to shift.

Win stared, also in shock, as Ash's comatose body began to shake with life. "I'll go get the Master." Win hastily bounded out of the tiny room and dashed straight to Lass' side. A quick haphazard conversation followed as Win and Lass both entered the little room.

"You were right." Lass remarked coolly as she watched Ash's muscles stir. Turning to her two employees, she ordered. "Leave now." Her threatening voice tone was enough to drive the pair out of the room.

"Oh…" Ash mumbled as he desperately tried to deal with the onslaught of pain.

Lass grinned wickedly as she saw him open his eyes. "Hello there. Had a nice nap?"

Ash growled in annoyance at the sarcasm in her voice and frantically tried to place the voice with a name. His brain came through as a single word escaped his lips. "Lass?" Associating the name Lass with threat, Ash anxiously tried to escape from his bed but simply ended up receiving more pain than before.

"Trying to get away from me, Ashy?" Lass mockingly taunted. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Those 2nd and even 3rd degree burns on you aren't going to be of much help. You have been in a coma for a couple of hours."

"What?" Ash murmured and glanced at his own body. Numerous parts of his body were covered with large white bandages making him look like a modern day mummy. "No wonder it hurts." A sudden thought banged against Ash's head as he inquired. "Where is everyone else?"

"If you're talking about those low class slugs you hang out with, don't worry. You must have teleported them out of there because they're bodies weren't found in Cerulean." Lass sighed, as she started voicing her own opinions. "I guess that's why you're so beat up now. You couldn't form a shield before the blast hit since you were too busy teleporting your friends away. When I teleported you out of there, you had already sustained a fair amount of damage." She let a deadly pause elapse before adding. "A millisecond longer and you'd be crispier than a burnt piece of toast."

Ash could barely comprehend these words as his energy started zapping away. Fatigue and exhaustion took their toll on Ash as he slowly closed his eyes. "But… why help… me?"

"Because, I'd hate to see all my hard work and effort perish." Lass quickly stated. As Ash drifted off into a weary slumber, Lass continued. "You're too important to die." She then closed her eyes and enveloped Ash in a blackish haze that bubbled with psychic energy. The move proved to be a powerful and energy-consuming move for it eradicated all of her energy supply. Lass collapsed to the floor in sheer exhaustion and panted heavily for a few moments. The dark mist faded and revealed a healthier Ash. Some of his burn marks evaporated while others had lessened considerably in size. The immense amount of pain felt by Ash before had decreased dramatically as could be seen by Ash's incredibly calm state of sleep. 

"Psychic moves take up so much energy." Lass remarked wistfully to herself as she picked herself off the ground. "I just hope that this will help him recover from his ordeal."

*~*~*~*~*

"Hit squad #4: Mission report on Cerulean needed." Giovanni sighed as he gazed down at the sweaty walkie-talkie in his hands. He had been using it almost nonstop for a couple of days serving to wear out his voice.

"Hit squad #4 reporting: Boss, it seems that AK was here yesterday and traveled to an old building nearby." A weary voice responded.

Giovanni studied some papers on desk before pressing the red button on the gadget. "But the nearest building is the Serpent's HQ."

The scratchy voice on the other line seemed to hesitate at this observation. "We know that Boss. After conducting a large search of the city we investigated the Serpent's HQ. There was nothing there, as in, there was no building to investigate."

"No building!" Giovanni yelled crossly into the radio. "How can there be nothing there?"

The person on the other line cringed. "It seems that building was completely decimated in some sort of explosion."

"So, he's dead?" Giovanni inquired, upset at being in the dark on the issue.

"Hit squad #7 reporting: That's not true sir. It seems that a person matching his description was seen in the Lavender Hospital. Unfortunately, it seems that he has disappeared under unusual circumstances." A different voice declared into the machine.

Once again, Giovanni shook his head in frustration. "Unusual circumstances? That doesn't help us!"

"Hit squad #5 reporting: Some rumors are circling around Saffron claiming that AK is there." Another rough voice stated.

"Hit squad #8: Boss, allow me to remind you that the Serpents have another building in Saffron, the Silph Co. building." Yet another voice asserted.

Giovanni nodded his head. "Yes, the old Silph Co. building… the building they took away from us all those years ago." A slow smile formed on his lips as he continued. "It seems that our friend, AK, likes to find Serpent buildings." Giovanni then shouted into the instrument. "Listen up! All 10 groups will all meet just outside Saffron. At night, you will all tour around the city and try to find AK. Then, exterminate him, as planned."

"Hit squad #10 asking a question: Should we find James and bring him with us?" A scratchy voice asked.

"Hit squad #1 asking another question: All 10 groups together will equal hundreds of agents. Is that really a necessary amount of people?" A timid voice questioned.

Giovanni smiled. These agents really didn't know how powerful Ash was. "Yes, it is incredibly essential to have as many agents as possible. AK is an exceptionally strong trainer. As for James, I'm sick and tired of him giving us the wrong locations to look for AK. Kill him as well."

*~*~*~*~*

"Is that it?" Giselle asked with more than just a slight amount of fear bubbling within her delicate vocal cords. Up ahead, the path curved and revealed a spooky building that demanded fear in its presence. The sheer size of the building itself seemed to dwarf the hill it stood on. Loose wooden panels rocked back and forth threatening to fall from the already decomposing structure. A wicked path stretched straight to the building, like a hand beckoning its next victim.

"Sure looks like it." Misty gazed in wonder at the bloodcurdling structure. Fear didn't need to quiver up her spine this time; it was already fizzing within her arteries and veins. "I wonder how tough this guy is." The small group now reached the building and carefully pushed open the creepy door. It slowly creaked open as nothing but darkness was discovered inside. "Hello?" They soon sauntered inside the dark building.

"Is anyone there?" Gary uneasily called as the hum of his voice bounced around the dwelling before finally disappearing into nothingness.

"Another challenger? How many more do I need to beat today?" A dark and mysterious voice growled within the blackness. The doors swung close behind the terrified group and a soft light enveloped the area. Examining the parts of the rooms that were visible under the dwindling brightness, the trio discovered that they were standing in a dark pokemon battle area with unsettling designs of ghost pokemon encompassing the walls and even the floor.

Misty bravely took a step forward and yelled. "Are you the gym leader?"

"So, a female challenger? Ah… a refreshing change of pace, I'll say."Stepping into the light, a mysterious female gazed at them with deep blue sapphire eyes and shoulder-length hair that was splashed with rich crimson. Following her was a black ball that hung suspended in midair. Malicious shadowy eyes and a mouth with two razor-sharp teeth bellowed from the front of the blackish sphere. Scattered specks of shady mist circled the center of this bizarre creature. "Male challengers have a hard time getting over the fact that they were defeated by a girl. Isn't that right, Ghastly?"

Ghastly grinned sinfully and stared at the petrified group of people.Astounding the tiny group, the ghost spoke in the human tongue. "Look at what the psychics dragged in. A rather odd bunch of individuals, don't you agree?"

"Indeed…" The woman whispered back. "Fiery red hair… you don't see that color every day. What's your name?" After an awkward silence passed, the woman added. "I like to know the names of the people that I beat."

Since Misty was the only one of the group that had red hair, she declared. "We aren't here to challenge you. We want information, Serpent, and we want it now." After a slight pause, Misty snarled. "And the name's Misty. Remember it and don't forget it."

"Mi…sty?" The sinister woman gasped in shock. She and her pokemon fixed their horrified eyes in Misty's direction. To the surprise of everyone in the room, the tall woman dashed over to Misty's side and gave her one of the biggest bear-hugs that one can possibly give. "Oh my god! I thought that you had perished years ago!"

"What! Who are you?" Misty gasped partly in astonishment and partly in lack of breath. "And why are you hugging me?"

A small blush came to her face as she released her hold over Misty. A small trickle of tears raced down her cheek in happiness. In a hoarse voice, she ignored Misty's questions and rambled. "After all these years! I never thought that I would see you again! Where's Brock? Did you know that Ash is in Team Rocket now? Well, of course you don't know that… Just look at you! You look great! What have you been doing all these years?"

"Do I know you?" Misty asked with a baffled expression dawning her face.

"Did you already forget about me? After hundreds of attempts of trying to capture that Pikachu from Ash?" She inquired.

Misty blinked her eyes in disbelief, and carefully examined the woman in detail. The hair may be shorter, and the person may be a bit older, but there was no mistaking it. "Jessie?"

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, you're finally up." Lass commented nonchalantly as she observed Ash's eyes slowly flickering.

"Ow…."Ash groaned as he placed a hand on his sore head. His head seemed to be cracking under strenuous pressure; it was as if someone had smashed every single one of the cells in his brain. The pain was literally intolerable… even worse than a migraine or a headache due to Stellar. "What… happened?"

Lass, who was typing a few things on a computer, sighed. She gazed at the room with little interest in her eyes. This, being one of her many offices, possessed slight, if any, appeal whatsoever. It was a large room largely composed of only a high tech computer, and a couple of comfy couches. Ash happened to be lying down on one of these sofas with a slightly pale tint on his face. Lass delicately declared. "You have been out cold for at least a couple of hours."

"I have?" Ash moaned in a muffled tone. "Then why does my head feel like its been run over by a tractor carrying 17 Dragonites and 5 Snorlaxs?"

Lass laughed maliciously. "Oh, that. It's just one of the temporary side effects. Don't worry. It should stop hurting it after a few minutes."

"Side effects? From what?" Ash inquired painfully as he tried to shake off the horrendous throbbing within his skull.

"Oh, nothing important." Lass remarked softly. "Just downloaded your brain onto a disk."

"What!" Ash screamed in spite of his painful headache. "How could you… what!"

Lass shook her head as an amused grin materialized on her lips. "Ashy, now really. You shouldn't be shouting like that in your condition." Searching around the desk for a while, Lass discovered a CD. However, this wasn't a normal CD. It was much larger in diameter with a perfectly colorless surface. The disk was also thicker in depth and seemed to weigh a significant amount more. "Here, catch." Lass then threw the CD towards Ash, which was enclosed in a plastic case.

"Are you telling me that this compact disk contains all the information in my brain?" Ash inquired in surprise as he caught the diskette in his hands.

Lass simply nodded. "Amazing how much technology has increased over the last few years. We simply improved the design off the ancient's object of a 'CD' and created a Mega CD, or MCD for short. It holds a maximum of 10,000 mega bytes… more than 15 times more powerful then a normal CD." More to herself, she continued. "Still, not even this can hold all the brain's information."

Ash stared at the object in amazement. The idea of holding everything that you have ever thought and remembered is a hard concept to get over. He agonizingly shifted off the cozy coach and onto his stiff feet. A couple of awkward steps proceeded before Ash reached Lass. Giving her the disk, he took a deep breath. "How did you do this?"

Lass grabbed the disk from Ash and placed it into an unusual compartment that was attached to the futuristic computer. As she was trying to load the program, Lass spoke. "We have developed a scanner that was able to scan every brain cell in the human mind and load it into a program. The information in the brain is so immense, however, we needed to delete certain information in order for it to fit onto a MCD."

After a few anxious moments of waiting, an enormous chart formed that seemed to stretch to infinity. "You mean that everything that I've ever thought, heard, seen, felt and remember is sitting right here in this chart?" Ash questioned in shock as he pointed to the data listed on the computer screen.

Lass smiled arrogantly at her accomplishment. "Indeed… although this doesn't include short-term memories and a large amount of past memories. They aren't necessarily that important when you think about it."

"But… why?" Ash murmured at a loss of words. "Why would you ever want to do something like this?"

"Because I can." Lass merely stated. "Also, it comes in handy when you're working on a special project."

"Project? What kind of project?" Ash demanded getting the feeling that it wasn't a pleasant kind of project.

Lass simply shook her head. "You'll find out in due time, Ashy. Get some rest now. I have lots of work to do. Leading an entire organization takes quite a bit of hard work, you know."

Ash flashed her an angry glare. He never liked her surprises. "Rest sounds like a good idea to me." Ash unsteadily wandered back to the sofa. He lay down on it and pretended that he was fast asleep. Seeing that Lass wasn't paying attention to him, Ash summoned all his strength for a teleportation move. The air became dense with a dark smoke, but it soon faded an instant later leaving Ash panting fretfully.

"Silly Ashy." Lass remarked seeing that Ash was trying to escape from her. "You think that you could actually escape from here using your powers? Don't you know that you are way too weak to even attempt such a powerful maneuver?" Lass then turned her attention away from the machine and walked over to Ash. "After all, being part pokemon has its limitations."

"Part pokemon?" Ash repeated restlessly. "But humans and pokemon are two completely different organisms!"

"Says who?" Lass insisted. "Haven't you ever heard the old legends?"

"The old legends?" Ash murmured in confusion.

Lass shook her head in frustration. "Oh yea… forget about that. I never told you about them, did I?" Memories of these long forgotten stories entered her head. She had listened to them so many times to them that she knew most of them by heart. "Well, I'll have to tell you about later."

"Ok…" Ash sighed even more confused than before. "But still… humans? Part pokemon? What kind of crazy idea is that?"

"A theory that's utterly valid. We all have pokemon genes in us that enable us to perform numerous attacks, especially psychic attacks. Even though these attacks are programmed into our genetic code, humans can't execute them because these genes happened to be turned off." Lass testified monotonously. "This 'crazy idea' can be proven too. The only proof you need is a missing link." Pausing for a moment in order to choose her words carefully, Lass added. "And we're the missing link."

*~*~*~*~*

"And that about wraps up the last six years." Jessie licked her chapped lips and rested her sore throat.

"Why did you and James part after that avalanche?" Gary inquired remembering the times that Jessie and James were an inseparable pair.

Jessie sighed as her mind shifted back to the painful memories. "Meowth's death really destroyed our team spirit. I guess we've cheated death on so many occasions in our lives that we never thought that it could happen to us. When it finally did, things have never been the same."

"Death certainly is a fast way to grow up." Misty wistfully remarked remembering how a few gunshots forced her to grow up faster than she would have ever thought possible. "But, still… why would you leave James and join the Serpents?"

"James and I weren't on good terms at the moment. I guess we both grew up so fast that couldn't handle the fact that things were never going to be the same again." Jessie stated as a slow tear escaped her eyes and tumbled down her cheek until it pounded against the cold hard floor. "I was beginning to resent Team Rocket in every aspect for even sending us out there. James tried to convince me otherwise… but I wouldn't listen. The Serpents Clan seemed like a good place to go to… especially after meeting Lass."

"You know what I think is strange?" Misty suddenly yelled in surprise at her own notions. "Both you and Ash had your wills crushed before Lass asked you both to join." 

Jessie suddenly bolted out of a chair that she was sitting on. "Lass also asked Ash to join the Serpents?"

"It's almost like she's targeting people, breaking their spirit and convincing them to join." Giselle commented thoughtfully.

Gary shook his head in amazement. "This Lass girl seems like a crafty person all right. It's going to be hard to find out where she is now."

"Try Cerulean. HQs is close by that city." Jessie stated, not knowing the about the recent events that transpired there.

Giselle grinned nervously. "It was destroyed." Gazing down at the floor, she sighed. "It looks like we are never going to get the cure for Stellar. Poor Brock."

"Brock's infected?!" Jessie screamed in shock. "Gosh, I guess a lot of things have changed over the years, haven't they?" Searching her brain for some ancient information, Jessie declared. "Well, if that's true, then you should try Saffron City. It's the biggest building that we own, excluding the one at Cerulean, of course."

"Really?" Misty cried with a surge of excitement fizzing within her vocal cords. "That's probably where she's holding Ash and where we can find the cure!"

Jessie smiled at her old enthusiastic enemy who had grown into a friend. "Saffron's is only a few miles west from here. Look around for a place called the Sliph Company. It used to be an old Rocket building but we modified it."

"Thanks Jessie." Misty smiled gratefully in Jessie's direction as she got up. "We'll go and check it out right now."

"Good luck guys." Jessie called.

Gary and Giselle waved farewell and exited the dusty building. Misty soon followed in suit but as she reached the doorway, she gazed back at Jessie one more time. "Jessie… you know that you can leave anytime you want to. Leave and get on with your life."

Jessie shook her head in regret. "I wish I could. Once you join the Serpent's, there's no turning back."

As she stepped out of the building, Misty sighed and whispered to herself. "I just hope that Ash is smart enough to realize that."

*~*~*~*~*

"Ok… good. No sign of her." Ash remarked thankfully as he sat up from the couch that he was resting on. Gaining an ample amount of strength, Ash stood on his feet and quickly glanced at his body. Surprise was certainly evident on his face when he realized that he didn't even have one scratch on him anymore. But that's impossible! Burns marks like his don't get healed that quickly… In fact, his body healed as fast as… as a pokemon's would…

"Pikachu, come on out… but be quiet will ya?" Ash whispered as he tossed the ball into the air and liberated a very irritated little rat.

Pikachu glared at its trainer as electric sparks threatening flickered from his cheeks. "(How dare you leave me there for so long! Why, I oughta…)"

"Be quiet!" Ash commanded in as soft of a voice as he could muster. "Look, we've been captured by Lass. I need you get out of here and find Misty, Gary and Giselle."

"(But what about you?)" Pikachu demanded with worry etched on its tiny modest face.

Ash gently patted the little creature. "Don't worry little buddy. I have a hunch that Lass doesn't want to hurt me for some reason. Besides, I'm still too weak…" Still spying a distressed look on Pikachu's face, Ash sighed. "I promise that I'll get out of here… somehow. I've always done so in the past, haven't I?"

Pikachu grimly nodded, trying its best to hold back tears. It hadn't parted from Ash's side in years. "(Are you sure that you're going to be ok?)"

"I swear it." Ash spoke with a shaky confidence filling his tone. "If I break my promise, you can electrocute as many times as you want. Deal?" Just to show that he meant it, Ash held out his hand out.

Pikachu grinned at Ash but, instead of shaking Ash's hand, Pikachu jumped into Ash's lap and gave him an immense hug. "(Deal.)"

It was now Ash's turn to hold back tears as he embraced the little pokemon. Pikachu then slipped out of his grasp and sat beside a window nearby. Using his mind, Ash managed to open the window, making sure that the alarm didn't go off. Pikachu then bounded out into the darkened night and disappeared from sight. As Ash gently used his powers to close up the window, he gazed outside. "Good luck old friend."

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, this looks as good a spot as any." Gary commented as he threw his stuff to the ground.

Giselle copied his actions and proceeded to lay out her sleeping bag. "Good thing I remembered to pack this."

"So, we're going to camp out here for the night and we should make it to Saffron tomorrow." Gary quickly reviewed their plans and starting searching his backpack for something to start a fire with.

"Yea… sure. Whatever." Misty mumbled softly with a bored expression plastered on her face.

"You all right, Misty?" Giselle asked with some concern as she collected some nearby firewood.

Misty waved off her kindness. "Oh, I'm ok. Just a little… well, concerned… that's all." Not wishing to explain her statement further, Misty quickly came up with an excuse. "Here, I'm going to collect some more firewood."

Misty dashed out of the campgrounds and into the blackened night. Darkness surrounded her as she daintily gathered dry sticks in her hands. A silvery moon proved to be her only source of light as it illuminated the surrounding area. However, it wasn't the only source of light…

"What the…?" Misty exclaimed in amazement as she carefully gazed ahead and observed a yellowish blur. The classic zig-zag tail and the red rosy cheeks clearly identified this creature as… "Pikachu?"

Pikachu halted in its tracks at the sound of its name. It quickly glanced around the area until its beady little eyes rested on Misty. "(Misty?)" Misty dropped the wood from her fingers and opened her arms to the tiny rodent. Pikachu raced over to his friend, filled to the brim with unconditional joy. "(Thank god I found you! Ash is in trouble… really big trouble.)"

After pondering Pikachu's magical appearance for a moment, Misty managed to figure out what had happened. "Lass must have captured Ash and he sent you for help, right?"

"(Indeed.)" Pikachu sighed. "(But there's more… I'm afraid.)" Even though Pikachu knew that Misty couldn't understand him very well, Pikachu still continued. "(Lass… _does_ things to people. When she wants something… she gets it.) Whispering under his breath, Pikachu swallowed in fright. "(Just what does she want with Ash?)"

*~*~*~*~*

"Get up." A cold hard voice echoed across the room, directed at Ash who was snoozing in a coach. Seeing that his companion was ignoring him, the man walked further into the room accompanied by a girl around the same age.

The girl, with slightly more compassion than her comrade, silently strolled up to Ash and whispered in his ear. "Ash, you have to get up. Lass is going to catch us if you don't."

Battling drowsiness, Ash lifted a pair of bulky eyes to the duo and yawned. "What are you talking about? And isn't it a little early to wake someone up?"

The guy snickered. "Oh yes, we all know the suffering of waking up at noon." He stepped a little closer. "Hey, Ash. We have a proposition to ask of you."

"Huh?" Ash simply inquired as he shook the sleepiness out of his system. He then focused his vision on the pair and exclaimed. "Win? Julie? What in the world are you two doing here? Trying to kill me again?"

"Hush." Julie ordered as she placed a hand over his mouth. "Not so loud, now." Noticing that Ash was silent, Julie removed her hand away from his mouth. "Ok, that's better. Now, Win and I want to talk to you."

"Talk away." Ash commanded.

Win nervously fidgeted. "Well, have you had 'the talk' with Lass?"

"The talk?" Ash asked with confusion. "Um… I've had a few conversations with her if that's what you mean…"

"Good, he doesn't know what it is. Lass must not have gotten to him… yet." Julie remarked. "At least there's hope." Turning back to Ash, Julie stared at him for an elongated period of time. "Ok, Ash, you want to escape right? You want to get out of here and see your friends again, right?"

"Of course…why not?" Ash inquired with bewilderment etched on his face.

"She must have delayed it because of his weak status when he came in." Win declared as he also started staring intently at Ash. "Has Lass told you about us or how any of her other employees joined the Serpents?"

"Um… no." Ash promptly answered. "Look, get to the point."

Win bit his lip before nodding. "Ash, everyone here at the Serpent Clan had their life destroyed before they came here. Lass has been looking everywhere for candidates for having a special gift, or what she calls the 'chosen ones'. They seemingly possess some sort of power and can become the most powerful creatures on the planet, with some training of course."

"So, her search has ended… with me." Ash harshly spoke with a tinge of anger burning within his eyes. "And she wants me to join forces with her in order to take over the world, or something like that… right?"

"Indeed." Julie lowered her head to the ground. "Win and I are brother and sister. She… killed our dad… he used to work for her. We… were abandoned… just like that. Lass was the only one there to lend us a helping hand… our mom had passed away when we were very young. We had no where else to go…"

Overwhelmed by emotions, Julie closed her lush eyes as salty teardrops tumbled from her cheeks. Win comforted his sister by placing a reassuring arm around her. "That's why we don't want the same thing to happen to you. Promise us that…"

"How come no one invited me to the party?" Lass questioned as she strutted into the immense room. Her eyes rested on a tearful Julie and a consoling Win. That single expression, devoid of any emotion whatsoever, convinced Win and Julie to depart immediately. When they did so, Lass directed her attention at Ash. "So, feeling better?"

"Feeling better?" Ash uttered these words with an icy breath and glared at her. "I would be feeling better if I could get out of here."

"Ok." Lass daintily answered and walked out of the room. Overcome with intense curiosity, Ash followed her through a long corridor. The hallway terminated with the appearance of a room, similar to a lobby, except for the fact that it was devoid of people. "Be my guest. Leave." To emphasize her point, Lass used her abilities to open a large set of doors that lead to the outside world and freedom.

"Excuse me?" Ash muttered in shock. There was no way that Lass was really letting him go… right?

"I said that you could leave." Lass stated curtly as she motioned Ash towards the open doors.

"Ok, what's the catch?" Ash inquired knowing that Lass would _never_ do something this stupid. "Let me guess… you have some chip implanted in my brain that causes immense pain when I disobey your orders? Or, I've got it… that's not really the front door; it's all a hallucination, correct?"

"Nope, no catches, chips or hallucinations." Lass remarked frankly. "Although that chip thing isn't such a bad idea…"

Ash stared at her strangely as thoughts starting circling around in his head. "Was this 'the talk' that Win and Julie mentioned before?" He shook his head in disbelief. Did he really just hear her say that? Just to test her out, Ash strolled straight up to the edge of the doorway and spoke. "See? I'm about to escape now…"

"You certainly can't escape very well, can you? It's a miracle that you even made it this far in life without killing yourself." Lass sighed. "But, I want you to know something first. You won't leave here."

"Huh?" Ash moaned in pure confusion. "What do you mean I won't leave here? You just said that I could escape!"

"You are so gullible, Ashy!" Lass mocked. "After 5 years, you would think that you'd know me better." Lass soon walked up to Ash, still keeping the doors of freedom wide open. "Have you even tried using your gift at all this morning?"

"Um…. no." Ash muttered, remembering that he last time he used it was to help Pikachu escape.

Lass smiled wickedly. "You haven't used after letting that rat out."

"Oh… you saw that?" Ash nervously stumbled. "You didn't do anything to Pikachu… did you?"

"Your precious little pokemon is safe at the moment." Lass quickly voiced. "You were so busy worrying about that little creature that you haven't even bothered looking at your own hands."

Ash once again sprouted a confused look on his face; a look that we all are so familiar with. His eyes soon diverted to his hands and his wrists, which appeared normal to the ordinary eye. However, Ash started getting an unusual feeling especially while glancing at his strangely swollen wrists. He tried to ignore it by convincing himself that it was just his imagination flirting with insanity. Unfortunately, his best efforts were in vain. "What did you do?"

Lass grinned with that devilish smile of hers. She then lifted her own hands and spread a blackish mist into the air. When the mist cleared, it was evident that two large golden cuffs forcefully clung to both of Ash's wrists. "They're a little something I made up. It takes away your power, basically. I can't believe that you didn't even sense them!"

"Well, invisible cuffs are hard to catch after a long nap." Ash remarked. "And I don't care if you have placed these things on me. I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Why? What's out there that isn't in here?" Lass demanded spitefully. "Why did you start this mission anyway? Was it really just to stop Stellar? If that's so, then fine. It's stopped. Simple as that. All you had to do is ask."

Ash cringed a bit. "Um… well… thanks, I guess." Hesitation was more than evident in his voice along with confusion. "But… I need to… I need to be with my friends right now. I have a life, you know!"

"You have a life?" Lass sardonically hissed. "What life? A life as an ex-Rocket? I sincerely doubt that's the kind of life you want!" A long pause elapsed before Lass spoke again, only this time it was deadly quiet. "At 15, you were a young Pokemon Master with a full life ahead of him. Do you really think that you're the same person? Do you really think that you can go back to that life again? You died 6 years ago, Ash."

A violent shiver dashed down Ash's spine, making him quiver with remorse. Was it true? Had he really 'died' 6 years ago? He had changed a lot but… still… Ash growled back at Lass. She knew that she had touched a sensitive spot. He had always secretly hoped that doing some right in the world, after doing so much wrong, would somehow change the past. Could he be wrong? Setting aside these disturbing thoughts, Ash shook his head. "No, I… I didn't. I… I'm le…leav… ing, right… now."

"Bet I can change that." Lass whispered as Ash twirled around in surprise. "You were wrong when you told me that you had everything you wanted. But, you really want your old life back didn't you?" Observing that she had caught Ash's attention, Lass smiled. "I can make that happen."

"…………..how?" Ash stammered in amazement. The need for freedom was beginning to decline.

Lass sighed. "Ever heard of a creature called Celebi?" Seeing Ash shake his head from side to side inspired Lass to continue. "Well, this pokemon is basically a little green alien, although many people don't believe that it exists. Foolish people! They're the same people that think that Mew and Mewtwo don't exist!"

"They exist?" Ash inquired, dumbfounded to say the least.

"Why of course they exist!" Lass cried at the top of her weary lungs. "Anyway, this pokemon is nicknamed Timetravel because it has the ability to wander across time." Ash's eyes soon widened in shock when she added. "And since you're part pokemon, you have the ability to time travel after a lot of experience… experience which only I can give you."

Another tense pause elapsed before Ash exclaimed. "Are you saying that I could travel back in time and stop the shootings… stop my life from being ruined?"

Lass simply bobbed her head up and down. "Yes, Ashy, yes. You can stop it all from happening." Edging closer to him, Lass whispered. "I can make your wish come true."

Ash merely froze on the spot as Lass gazed down at his wrists and dissolved the cuffs on his hands. She then walked back into the building and glanced expectantly back at Ash. "Coming?"

Ash gulped nervously as he bit his lip. He then turned his head towards the outside where the Rebels were patiently waiting for him. They had been his friends through it all… and always will be. He couldn't ditch them, could he? Could he really get his life back in the harsh world outside? He then gazed inside the Serpent complex. His eternal wish could finally come true… and if he really could go back in time, then he really wouldn't be ditching his friends. Then again, Lass is probably using him… so… freedom or wish? What a dilemma! "I'm leav…. I mean… I'm coming… Lace." Ash sighed as he chose his destiny by walking back into the Serpent HQ.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well… here… we… are." Giselle panted in a show of dramatics as the weary group reached the golden city.

Gary grinned smugly. "I remember the last time I came here to Saffron. I totally destroyed the gym leader! By the time I was finished with her, she was begging me for mercy! I should have laughed in her face, but I simply…"

"I don't mean to interrupt your gloating session, but we need to find Ash." Misty abruptly reminded him. "Hey, Pikachu! Where are you running off to?"

The obedient pokemon, who had been previously perched on Misty's shoulder, bounded into the midst of city. "(Would you guys hurry up and follow me? I know where I'm going!)"

"I think that it wants us to follow him." Giselle stated the obvious as the trio raced in pursuit of the yellow blur. The rodent halted its mad dash through town was it caught sight of an incredibly tall building. "So, this must be the Silph Company."

"(Wait… I smell something)" Pikachu remarked as he placed his tiny nose into the air. A familiar smell was in the area… resembling his trainer's… but it wasn't coming from the Silph Co. building…

As Misty gazed at the tall intimating building, her brain went into overdrive. "So, we have to get into the building and free Ash. I'm thinking that we do it during the night… that way we'll probably avoid detection."

"Oh my…" Giselle suddenly cried as her eyes glued themselves to a location a little ways away.

Gary soon followed her direction and gaped in horror. "Misty… you have to see this."

Misty, along with Pikachu, was too preoccupied to notice Gary and Giselle until now. Both of them redirected their eyes and their expression drastically changed to shock. "Ash?"

There was a sight that three humans and a Pikachu weren't prepared to see. Not only was Ash in plain sight but he's also fishing? And eating a hot dog? And reading a magazine? After almost being blown up to pieces? "What in the world is he doing?" Gary exclaimed perhaps a little too loudly.

Ash raised his head at the sound of the commotion. His eyes appeared to be a lighter shade of brown along with his clothes. Instead of the dark black attire that he previously dawned, Ash was cast in teal blue shirt along with dark green khakis. His hair also seemed to be a bit shorter and was pale enough to be called dark brown rather than jet-black. "And you're staring at me… because?"

Giselle and Gary raced over to his side while Misty and Pikachu slowly followed them. Giselle haughtily and not to mention angrily, stomped her foot. "What are you doing out here? Didn't Lass capture you? And what are you doing here fishing?"

"I happen to like it." Ash directly commented as he took a deep bite out of his immense hotdog. "Let's see. It's… um… Gary and… hold on. I know this… Giselle, right?"

"You never liked fishing for as long as I've known you." Gary growled spitefully at Ash's relaxed attitude.

Misty and Pikachu soon joined their friends as Pikachu crept closer to his trainer. "Why hello Pikachu… my pokemon… the one who's never in a pokeball." Ash mumbled rapidly as if he were reading a list of facts about his own pokemon.

"(Something's not right.)" Pikachu quickly voiced as it went and hid behind Misty's leg.

"Hey! What's the matter?" Ash inquired as his eyes met Misty's. "Excuse me, can you give me back my Pikachu… um…"

"Misty." Misty snarled in distrust at Ash. Her eyes were filled with inner turmoil, and yet they managed to retain a clear suspicion towards Ash.

"Right. I knew that… no wait, I didn't." Ash rambled in amazement at his own words. "No… something's wrong… shoot! What's going on now?" Ash rapidly clenched his head as an unspeakably harsh quantity of pain slammed against his head and the rest of his nervous system.

Gary worriedly gazed at his friend. "Ash, are you ok?"

"Do I look like I'm ok?" Ash shouted crossly as his body shook in convulsions of pain. "There's… a glitch in… the system." After speaking these words, Ash hit the ground as the world turned pitch black.

*~*~*~*~*

"Welcome to the Serpent Clan, Ashy." Lass congratulated him with a handshake and tossed him a uniform.

Ash nervously gazed down at the uniform in his hands. "Really, this is too much. Remember? This is a temporary thing! I'm not staying here forever!"

"Yea… sure… whatever." Lass mumbled as she grabbed the darkened blue uniform from his hands and tested its size against his body. "Let's see… an XL should fit you. Yea… this should suit you." She then tossed the uniform into his outstretched arms once again and rummaged around for some more clothes to add to his new uniform.

"Lass!" Ash angrily cried as she comically piled numerous articles of clothing into his arms creating a shaky tower of garments. Peeking his head to the right of the mound, Ash sighed. "Have you been listening to a word that I've been saying? I'm not going to stay here that long… just until I figure out how to time travel."

"Like that's going to happen any time soon." Lass quietly whispered under her breath.

"What did you say?" Ash inquired.

Lass grinned as she added a pair of black boots to the immense heap. "Nothing, Ashy."

"And would you stop calling me that!" Ash growled in annoyance.

"No." Lass honestly answered and started walking out of the storage room. "Follow me. I'll show you to your room."

Ash complied as he barely managed to pursue her without crashing into an adjacent wall. A short walk, or an incredibly lengthy hike to Ash who could barely keep his balance, occurred and ended at a door. As Lass opened the door, Ash collapsed on the floor as the large pile of clothes crashed to the floor. "I hope that I never have to do that again." Ash huffed as he lifted himself off the floor.

"Since you're a fellow teammate now, I want to show a project that we've been recently working on." Lass stated as she walked out of the relatively small room and into the hallway. A quick stroll proceeded before it terminated at a large door. Not even bothering touching the knob, Lass gracefully pushed open the door with a blackish mist and revealed a startling sight. Situated before the pair was a huge complex where literally hundreds of people sat staring at large test tubes, beakers, and large stacks of paper. Observing the clutter of scientific items like bunson burners, numerous white lab coats and ridiculous-looking goggles, Ash had no doubt that this was a lab room of some sort.

"So, why are we here?" Ash inquired monotonously.

Lass merely grinned and sauntered into another nearby connecting room. There, Ash observed various computers stacked against 3 sides of the room. Lass quickly turned on a nearby computer and booted it up. After boating up a program, she waited for it to load. When it finally did, Lass motioned Ash towards the machine. "Check it out for yourself."

He might as well have been looking into a mirror because that's what he saw… himself. "What? Why do you have a picture of me on the computer?" He then watched the screen and was surprised at the appearance of his friends. "Misty? Pikachu? Gary? Giselle? What are they all doing there?" After gazing at the screen for a moment longer, Ash noticed something fishy. "I never did those things… how did you digitally alter it? It looks pretty real to me." Ash hastily rambled his thoughts out loud.

"Actually, you wouldn't believe how real it is." Lass commented mysteriously. "I must admit; you're friends are smarter then they look. I thought that it would take them at least a few more days to get to Saffron." She then decided to answer his original question by declaring. "By the way, this is an actual video and it hasn't been modified in any way."

Ash gazed at the screen in confusion. "Excuse me? I think that if I were fishing, eating a hotdog and reading a magazine, I'd remember it. Heck… I hate fishing for that matter!"

"Why do you assume that it's you?" Lass flashed him a smile that really lived up to the expression 'if looks could kill'. She had something up her sleeve.

Win and Julie picked that inopportune moment to enter the room. They both gasped in surprise in Ash's direction with a disappointed look on both of their faces. A look that showed that they're hopes for him had been crushed. "Master, we have a problem with our most recent project." Win murmured.

"A problem?" Lass questioned with deep concern. However, she quickly stole a quick glance at Ash and seemed to make up her mind about something. "Tell them to take care of it for me. I'm in the middle of something important."

Julie bravely spoke. "But, Master, this matter is quiet urgent. It seems that there is some sort of glitch."

"Then give me 5 minutes, ok!" Lass roared in a frustrated tone as her terrified employees dashed out of the area. Turning back to Ash, Lass sighed. "Sorry about the interruption. Now where were we…" Her mind wandered off for a bit before she spoke. "Oh, yes, I remember now. Are you absolutely certain that this person is you?"

Ash sunk his head to the ground, recalling the disappointed looks on Win and Julie's faces. "Who else could it be? It's not like I have a twin."

"Nope, not a twin…" Lass frankly remarked. "But that doesn't mean that there isn't a person out there that doesn't have the same DNA as you."

"What?" Ash exclaimed in shock as his brain whirled in comprehension. "Are you saying that you made a clone of me?!"

"Not merely a clone. Why, that technology has been around for centuries! I've made an _exact_ clone of you." Lass explained.

"Exact? As in that person has all my thoughts and memories? All my hopes and dreams? Everything?" Ash shrieked. "Is that why you scanned my brain onto a MCD? You somehow downloaded all that information into the clone's brain?"

"You're catching on, Ashy." Lass replied arrogantly. "Now I've got to see what all the fuss is about your clone. I wonder what glitch Win and Julie were talking about." Her mind soon wandered off as she ordered. "Stay here until I return." She then raced out of the room.

Ash stared at the screen intently, still in disbelief at the thought of having a clone. He then noticed that his clone had fainted while his friends were attending to him. "No guys… don't help him out. He's just a clone… he's not me." Ash mumbled to himself as he continued to watch the screen. A slow tear slipped down his cheeks as he watched his clone serve as his replacement. "I'm sorry." He sighed to no one in particular, hoping that it would make him feel better. Unfortunately, it only made him feel worse. He began to wonder if he had really made the right decision…

*~*~*~*~*

Bang!

"Ouch!" Ash yelped in pain as he felt the excruciating throbbing reached his foot. "Smart, Ash, real smart. Kick a metal bedpost and not except to injury your foot. Yep… I'm just as smart as Misty says I am." At the sound of her name, raw anger materialized within his face and once again slammed his foot against the bedpost.

Bang!

The metal jiggled with more force then before and additional stabs of pain pumped into his foot. This time, though, Ash simply ignored it. He was just too upset to care. "How dare my friends think that ugly _clone_ is me!" Ash cried, overlooked the amusing irony of calling his clone ugly. He continued to slam his already wounded foot repeatedly against the metal post.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Soon the burning in his foot became too much for even him to bear as he collapsed on the bed. Exhaustion set in along with a deeper understanding of the present situation. "It's not the Rebels fault. In fact, that clone is a pretty close copy." Anger once again clouded his dark brown eyes as he yelled. "It's all Lass' fault! She set me up! I've got to get out of here."

Ash bounded to his feet, still throbbing with pain, and raced over to a bag full of a few of his supplies. He searched through there and noticed something missing. "My pokemon! They're gone!" Ash screamed as his mind wandered to the clone. "Of course. If Lass wants to fool my friends into thinking that the clone is really me, he would have to have my pokemon." Slinging the light bag over his shoulder, Ash sighed. "I just hope that they're ok with that cheap look-alike."

He then quietly opened the door to his room and observed a blackened hallway. "Now… where was the front door again?" Ash randomly picked a route and started walking down corridor. Regrettably, it only led to hundreds of other rooms and soon a dead-end. "Great! Just my luck!" He then haphazardly strolled down numerous hallways, hoping that one of them would lead him to the front door.

"I'm telling you. These test results are correct!" A strange masculine voice floated through the air. Ash's curiosity peeked as he rounded the bend and discovered a somewhat ajar door with a bright light emitting from it.

"But they're impossible! How would you explain them? Glitches don't just appear out of thin air!" A womanly voice retorted furiously.

"Lass?" Ash whispered to himself as he recognized the voice tone. He slowly edged towards the door and peered through a crack in it. Sure enough, Lass was standing there, boiling with more anger than had been previously documented in his mind. Right next to him was a terrified man dressed in a white lab coat.

The man nervously quivered and handed her a couple sheets of papers. "Master… it's just that we've never seen a glitch quite like this before."

Lass irately tossed the papers to the ground. "You've _never_ seen a glitch like this before! We've experimented with numerous pokemon and human clones and _never_ had this problem before! You and your pathetic team have had hours to work on this problem! You must have at least some theories!"

As if preparing for a thrashing, the man slid to the ground and instinctively shielded his body with his hands. Picking up the scattered sheets of paper, the man whispered. "We do have two theories so far, but we don't have much evidence to back either of them up."

Cooling down a bit, Lass growled. "So, what are your theories on the Ash clone?"

The man pointed to something on one of the pages. "Well, we believe that it could have something to do with the certain 'changes' you asked for in the clone. These changes were to exterminate all of Ash's cares and wishes, or basically, to compromise his personality in order to be more obedient. One of the theories has to do with the fact that the clone doesn't have Ash's powers."

Lass shook her head. "I know that we didn't program it into the new clone but that shouldn't make a difference. It's simply a matter of turning a couple of genes off."

The man nodded. "That's exactly what we thought too, but we doubled checked the clone's cells just to make sure that we didn't mess it up somehow."

"So, what's the second theory?" Lass inquired.

The man sighed and pointed to another part of the page. "Well, see here how the glitch only occurred when he was introduced to his friends? The microchip implanted in Ash's clone also shows that only certain memories were deleted."

"But why would the sight of a few people cause a malfunction?" Lass questioned curiously.

The man seemed to anticipate this question for he quickly answered. "Well, we discovered something very interesting we when realized that the malfunction only occurred when the clone saw one of his friends. It turns out that all the recently deleted memories somehow involve this same person. Therefore, the clone now has absolutely no idea who this person is but otherwise is completely normal."

Lass cocked her head in confusion. "Why would the sight of one person cause the clone to delete all memories of that person? That makes no sense!"

"That's the problem that we are currently faced with." The man simply stated.

"Well, who was this person?" Lass asked.

The man grabbed the pieces of paper from Lass and quickly glanced at it before replying. "Um… Misty… something."

"Misty?" Ash whispered softly in surprise. An amused expression soon dawned his face when he spoke. "Guess my clone must have been so frightened by the sight of her that he immediately fainted. Not surprisingly. There are times when I want to run for the hills when I see her."

"Did you just hear something?" Lass inquired as her sharp ears managed to pick up Ash's one-to-one conversation.

The man gazed at her as if she had just said that the sky was purple. "Master, are you sure? I didn't hear a thing."

"Hush up." Lass commanded as she curiously approached the door that Ash was hiding directly behind.

Thinking that his master had banged her head against the wall a little too many times, he hastily spoke. "Um… Master… I'm going to get back to the rest of the team. We'll continue to work on this problem through the night." He then left.

"Ok, thanks." Lass quickly voiced as her eyes continued to stare at the door.

"Shoot! I'm in trouble!" Ash thought to himself as he tried to quietly sneak away.

Lass smiled as her finally figured who it was. "Well, what an irony. The original Ashy listening to a conversation about his own clone. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way, Ashy, you're going to have to face me."

Ash bit his lip and didn't even want to think of what the 'hard way' was. Since he knew that he was caught red-handed, Ash quietly slipped into the room. "Hi. Um… I was just trying to find something to eat and…"

"And let me guess? You just happened to stumble across this room and listen to the whole conversation?" Lass continued with a smirk on her face. "And while you were searching for this snack, you decided to bring your bag along for company, right?"

Ash blushed in embarrassment as he realized that he was carrying around his small bag. "Um… it can get lonely in the hallway at this time in the night."

Lass continued to play along with the game. "Did you happen to check for some food in the refrigerator in your room?"

"Oh yea…" Ash mumbled. "That would have been a good place to start, wouldn't it?"

"Indeed." Lass simply answered. "And don't try to escape again. I've set up numerous traps outside along with my Raikou, Entei and Suicine who guard this place during the night." Lass warned him. "You're just lucky that I told these pokemon not to attack that pesky Pikachu when it escaped from here."

Ash shivered involuntarily at the thought of facing those 3 dog pokemon. Just one of them could easily rip him to shreds. "Fine… whatever…"

Lass stared at him sharply in order to emphasize her point. "Well, since you've overheard the problem with the Ash clone, what are your theories on it?"

"My theories?" Ash muttered in confusion. "How should I know why my clone deleted everything about Misty?"

Lass gazed into his innocent brown eyes trying to find some sign of a lie. When she couldn't find any, she sighed. "Well, I've got a theory."

"What is it?" Ash asked inquisitively.

Lass grinned slowly but it was soon replaced with a deep frown. "If my theory is correct, then you should already know what it is."

"What? How should I know what it is?" Ash growled confusedly.

Lass shook her head as if he had just proven her theory for her. "Yes… if my theory is right, you should know it. Maybe you wouldn't admit it to yourself. But… you've known it for a long time… an incredibly long time."

"Excuse me?" Ash asked stupefied. "I just learned about this problem only a few minutes ago!"

Lass brushed past him and walked out the door. She then turned back to Ash. "Here, I'll show you back to your room."

"But you haven't answered my question yet!" Ash childishly whined as he followed Lass down the hall.

A shy grin crept onto Lass' face. "Guys can be so stupid at times."

"I resent that." Ash grumbled. "And besides, when are you going to help me learn how to time travel? You said that you'd give me a lot of experience in order to learn that move."

Lass stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned back to Ash. "Eager as always, right Ashy?" She then started walking in the opposite direction. "Come on. Might as well get in an hour or two of training tonight."

"But it's 11:00 already! Isn't it a little late?" Ash sighed as brain started contemplating this suggesting. Ash then turned silent as he thought to himself. "Well, the more training I get, the faster I can get out of here and the faster I can find the Rebels."

*~*~*~*~*

"Amnesia! It's got to be amnesia!" Gary exclaimed as that egotistical grin materialized on his lips. "That explains why Ash could remember Giselle, me and Pikachu but not Misty."

"Hmm…. selective amnesia… it's the best explanation we've got." Giselle sighed, exhausted at the amount of thinking that she had to do within the past few minutes.

Misty shook her head in frustration. "Amnesia! What does amnesia have to do with a Pikachu that wouldn't even go near his trainer anymore? How does that explain his fainting session when he saw me? And what in the world does 'there's a glitch in the system' mean?!"

"Calm down Misty." Gary ordered. "Maybe he'll have some answers for us when he wakes up."

Misty collapsed into a nearby chair. "Something doesn't add up. How could Ash escape that easily from Lass? Why doesn't he have Brock's cure with him? Why is he doing things that he never enjoyed before like fishing?"

"Actually, you're right. They are a lot holes in that explanation." Giselle remarked thoughtfully. "Nothing makes sense about this whole situation!"

"Ow… any chance I can pick up a replacement for this throbbing thing on my neck?" The Ash clone moaned as he came to and quickly surveyed the scene. "Where am I?"

"A hotel room in Saffron." Gary quickly answered. "You've been out like a light for a couple of hours."

"Saffron? We're still in Saffron?" The clone shouted in shock. He suddenly remembered his 'Master' (Lass) specifically ordered him to get as far away from Saffron as possible. "We have to get out of here."

"Get out of here? It's 10:45 pm already! If we plan on getting out of Saffron without getting hopelessly lost, we have to wait till morning." Giselle reminded Ash.

The imposter gritted his teeth in annoyance but finally agreed with Giselle. His eyes then wandered over to Misty, who was silently sitting in a chair in the far corner. "You guys never told me that you got a new teammate while I was gone."

Gary and Giselle's eyes widened in amazement as they exchanged confused looks with one another. "Um… Ash… that's Misty. You've known her since you were 10." Gary stated awkwardly.

At the sound of her own name, Misty abruptly awoke from her dream-like state. "What's the matter Ash? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? You certainly look like that… better get some more beauty sleep… you unquestionably need it."

The Ash duplicate gazed at Misty strangely, unused to her playful taunts. "Is that the way that you treat all people? You're never going to get anywhere with such a snotty vain attitude like that. It's just plain pathetic! Just like your face… a face that even your mother couldn't love. In fact, I bet that the first time she saw your repugnant face, she committed suicide."

Misty angrily rose out of her chair. Rapid breaths issued from her lungs as she gave him the evilest glare that she could muster. Never had Ash insulted her like that before! This was different from all the lighthearted exchange of insults that was so customary with Ash and Misty. This was downright cruel. "Watch it Ketchum." Misty took whatever pride she could still retain and walked out of the room.

The fake wasn't even the least affected by this show of outrage. He simply turned his attention back to Gary and Giselle. "Some people in this group need to learn how to behave." A slow reflective expression formed on his face as he added. "Keep an eye on her. She doesn't seem very trustworthy."

"Misty! Not trustworthy!" Gary and Giselle cried in unison.

"Misty may be an annoying brat at times, but she's incredibly trustworthy. You of all people should know that." Gary continued.

"She would do anything for you, Ash." Giselle sighed.

The clone shook his head and whispered softly under his breath. "You mean anything for the original Ash."

*~*~*~*~*

"(Misty, where are you going?)" Pikachu questioned as he saw Misty wrap a dark coat around her.

Misty smiled at the little pokemon, who had been off hiding… or as Pikachu put it 'watching the wall for 5 hours' during the time that his fake trainer was knocked out. "Oh, just taking a walk... nothing much"

Pikachu shook his head, knowing all to well that Misty was hiding something. "(Spit it out, Mist. What's up?)"

Realizing that Pikachu wasn't going to be fooled that easily, Misty sighed. "If you have to know, I'm going to head over to the Silph Co. building. Since Ash couldn't obtain the cure, I'm going on a solo mission."

"(Is that the only reason why you're going there?)" Pikachu mischievously grinned.

But now, Misty was able to pick a couple of key elements in the Pikachu language. "I guess nothing gets past you." Misty laughed at her own ignorance. "If you really want to know, I'm also going to check out the place. Something smells fishy about Ash's miraculous escape. Hopefully, I can get some answers there."

"(You're right; something isn't right.)" Pikachu then dashed to the door and innocently gazed up at the doorknob. "(Any chance that you'll let a poor innocent little pokemon tag along with you?)"

"How could I refuse?" Misty smiled as Pikachu scrambled to the top of her shoulders. Misty quickly opened the door and raced down the 4 flights of stairs. She then bounded outside into the cold air and sprinted over to the old Silph Co. building.

These actions didn't go unnoticed by the group though. Ash's clone spied the two as they dashed away from the hotel. "Just as I thought. She's too smart for her own good. Master isn't going to like this."

*~*~*~*~*

"Ash? Where are you going at this time in the night?" Giselle yawned and rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.

The clone mentally kicked himself for being caught. "Um… I'm going to tour the city."

"Since when did Ash like to tour cities?" Gary moaned as he picked himself up from his comfy position in his bed. "Try the truth."

The imposter growled as he quickly tried to think up of a clever lie. Unfortunately, his brain just wasn't working today. "Fine, if you want to know, I'm going to the old Silph Co. building. I saw Misty and Pikachu running in that direction."

"Huh?" Gary and Giselle questioned curiously. "Well, we are coming with you."

The fake Ash groaned in frustration for a moment until he realized that Gary and Giselle tagging along might not be a bad thing. Perhaps he could even use it to his advantage. "Ok, then. Let's go."

*~*~*~*~*

"So, what kind of traps does Lass have here?" Misty inquired as she approached the tall building. A large wicked gate enclosed the structure with lush plants scattered around the area.

Pikachu sighed as memories of his last visit here hammered against his head. "(This is an electric fence, but I found a hole in it.)" Pikachu then leaped off of Misty and started racing ahead. "(Here, follow me.)"

"Slow down!" Misty called as she followed the speedy rodent through the thick vegetation. Numerous trees pounded their thick leaves against Misty while low bushes caused her to loose her balance more than she would have liked to admit. Eventually, their sprint ended a ¼ of a mile away from the building. "Pikachu… where's the hole?"

Pikachu answered that question by motioning to a small dirt tunnel underneath the fence structure. Regrettably, it was only large enough to permit small creatures to crawl through it. Pikachu used his small size to do this and stood on the other side of the fence gazing back at Misty. "(Ok, we have a slight problem. I forgot how small it was.)"

Misty pondered this problem for a moment before her lips expanded into a shrewd smile. "And I think I know an old friend that can help us out." Misty grasped a pokeball from her belt and tossed it into the air. "Come on out Togetic!"

"(Togepi evolved?)" Pikachu questioned as the pokeball opened and revealed an interesting creature with a semi-circle head and with two tiny wings attached to it back. The unusual proportions of this pokemon enabled it to have an incredibly small neck, an enlarged stomach and a medium-sized head. Large bumps were situated on top of its skull while two chubby arms and legs protruded from its body. A dark peach color encompassed the majority of the creature with the exception of it fair wings and some red circles along its body.

"(Pikachu! Long time no see!)" Togetic chirped gleefully at its old buddy.

"Togetic, do you think that you fly me over this fence?" Misty politely asked her happy little creature. Togetic agreed as it lay down on the ground while Misty promptly climbed onto its back. When its wings were beating as fast a bee's, Togetic lifted itself into the air and flew over the fence. The joyful pokemon landed on the other side with its master, unharmed, but slightly weary. "Thanks Togetic! Here, why don't you get some rest in your pokeball?" Misty returned the creature to its safe haven.

Misty and Pikachu then silently hid themselves behind various bushes and trees as they advanced towards the building. "(Maybe our luck is holding out.)" Pikachu whispered as it noticed that, so far, they hadn't encountered any real danger.

This changed in a blink of an eye as soft growls were heard nearby the pair. Misty and Pikachu froze in fear, hoping that whatever was out there wouldn't notice them in the bushes. This hope was soon destroyed as a vicious beast, resembling a ferocious wolf, emerged from the darkness. The shadows soon took their cue and dissolved themselves in order to reveal two more wolf beasts nearby.

Misty quivered in utter fear. "Our luck is about to change… and not for the better."

*~*~*~*~*

"You ready Ashy?" Lass questioned. She contracted her face as it changed to 'battle mode'.

Ash nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." They were both standing on opposite ends in a large room that closely resembled a pokemon battle gym.

"Since time travel is a psychic ability, use as many psychic attacks as possible." Lass commanded. "I'll give you the first move."

Ash stopped for a moment, trying to think of a good attack to use. Unfortunately, while doing this, he lost the element of surprise when he tried using teleport. His image dissolved into thin air and materialized directly behind Lass. He quickly powered up for another attack and focused a bluish beam mixed with the colors of the rainbow towards Lass. However, Lass was prepared for such a move as a blackish shield surrounded her.

"Psybeams may work on lower life-forms, but you're going to have to do better with me." Lass sneered. "Let's see how you handle night shade."

Lass closed her eyes and shot a ray towards Ash. It still held the same hue when performed by ghost pokemon: murky black blended with rich blue. The villainous attack blasted to Ash's side at top speed, which was faster than a runaway train. Barely able to think, Ash managed to form an almost invisible pastel blue screen that held most of the attack at bay. However, the sheer force of the Lass' move and the haste that Ash used in order to make the screen resulted in the evaporation of his barrier and the onslaught of pain.

When he had recovered, Ash shook his head. "I guess I need to work on my light screen move." He then took a deep breath in and passionately threw his arms in front of him. This caused a towering tornado of bluish haze to gallop towards his opponent. In preparation for the oncoming attack, Lass hurriedly created another blackish sphere around her body. Foreseeing this, Ash formed a small bluish ball and forced it into the ground. The ball of pure power dug through the floorboards and surfaced directly underneath Lass. Still trying to horde off the last attack, Lass was completely unprepared for a darkish blue orb as it crashed through her shield and knocked her off her feet. By the time the dust cleared, Lass was on the floor, surprised and somewhat weary, but certainly not out of the game.

"Nice idea, combining dragon rage with dig. But, I thought that we were working on psychic attacks?" Lass reminded him as she quickly tried to think of a good counter move.

"Anything that gets the job done." Ash declared as he trained his body to get ready for the next attack.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Lass mocked as she started up her next attack. She rapidly formed a filthy ball of black and sent it flying in Ash's direction. His light shield caused the attack to crash harmlessly against the shield, which sustained throughout the entire attack this time.

"Mud-slap?! Is that the best you can do?" Ash inquired in shock at the poor choice made by his opponent. Glancing down at his clothes, Ash discovered that there were black muddy blotches scattered amid his attire. "And you got my clothes muddy too!"

Lass sighed and forced a wicked grin on her face. "Oh… I'm sorry. Here, let me clean that off."

Ash recognized the spiteful undertone in her voice. He immediately tossed his eyes in her direction as she raised her arms into air. In sync with her hand motions, three streams of darkened water hurtled out of thin air towards her adversary. The sheer velocity of the attack stopped Ash from forming light screen; therefore making Ash take the full force of the attack. However, in the middle of it, a radiant sphere materialized around Ash's body and the rest of the attack bounced harmless off of it.

A slow smile escaped his lips as Ash cried into the air. "Yes! I finally learned barrier!"

"Congrats Ashy. And I thought that surf would surely make you faint." Lass praised as a sudden thought entered her mind. "And here's a quiz for you: What does water conduct?"

Ash opened his eyes in panic, knowing the answer all too well. Having an electric pokemon around allows you to remember these kinds of facts. He quickly formed a blue shield around him as Lass powered up for a thunder attack. The sinister lightning appeared in the room as it sprinted towards Ash and crashed against his shield. The fact that Lass was at a much higher level then Ash caused the lightning to break the shield and sizzle the individual that it was protecting. He cried in pain as the electricity bellowed through his nervous system and flung him against the right wall. When the attack ran out of power, it left a helplessly exhausted Ash on the floor.

"Give up Ashy?" Lass questioned seeing that Ash was pretty close to fainting. "I'm surprised; you really should have fainted by now."

"I'm pretty resistant to electric attacks." Ash sighed, remembering the various mornings that Pikachu had awoken him by using its thunderbolt. He then gradually lifted his body off the floor. He was about to comment further when he heard something outside… something very familiar. "Yea… sure. Good battle."

Lass stared at Ash questionably. "I'll go and get some potions for you. You look pretty tired."

Ash could barely nod his head. His attention was too focused on the strange noises coming from outside. He hardly noticed that Lass had left when he pulled himself to his feet. Though he could barely walk, Ash forced himself to stagger over to a nearby exit door. Using the handle for support, Ash opened the door and gazed outside. "Oh… it's those three dog pokemon that Lass said patrols around the area. They must have caught an intruder."

Indeed, three dog-like pokemon were just outside, nicknamed the 3 Legendary Dog Pokemon due to their power and scarcity. Raikou, the electric beast, Entei, the fire beast and Suicune, the water beast, were growling at some large bushes only a few meters away. Since he couldn't see the intruders, Ash quickly lost interest in the scene as his ears picked up sounds of a battle towards his left. Ash rapidly trotted to the far left side, right next to the powerful electric fence that lined the whole area. There, he could see an immense battle going on. The people with black clothes and crimson red 'R's on their shirts could be easily identified as Team Rocket agents. Ash's expression changed from semi-bored to shock as he recognized the people that the Rockets were fighting against.

"Gary? Giselle? And… me?" Ash inquired in morbid panic. Deciding that he had enough surprises for tonight, he stumbled back to the door and closed it. "Ok… this situation keeps getting weirder and weirder…"

*~*~*~*~*

"AK! Prepare to meet your death!" A man, sporting a black top with a scarlet "R" on it, threatened as he flashed a slivery pistol towards the Ash's direction.

The clone growled in aggravation at such an annoyance. Why did these Rocket agents have to come for him now? It was times like these that he wished that he were someone else's clone. "Team Rocket? Now's not really a good time. Can you try to kill me later?"

Gary sighed and gazed over at the nearby Silph Co. building. They were practically at the entrance and these stupid Rockets had to come and waste time. Who knows where Misty and Pikachu were at the moment? "Yeah… we're kind of in a hurry now."

"And why did it take you guys so long to find him anyway?" Giselle asked conceitedly. Why would it take Team Rocket this long to find one person? Team Rocket wasn't that slow… were they?

The leader of the Team Rocket group, which contained literally hundreds of agents, scowled. "It's none of your business missy! Now, hold still and I'll make your deaths as painless as possible."

"But wasn't it because that James guy kept getting the locations wrong?" Another member of the Rocket gang questioned.

The leader glared at his foolish agent and yelled. "Be quiet!"

During this distraction, the Ash look-alike pulled out a pokeball and released a pokemon. "Come on out Zubat!"

The leader, realizing his idiotic move of waiting too long, shouted. "You want me to kill your pokemon as well? Well, that's fine with me!" He then fired a series of shots at the poor bat as it flew away in order to avoid the bullets.

"Ash! Zubat's going to get hurt! Recall it immediately!" Giselle cried anxiously.

Gary pointed to the sky and declared fearfully. "She's right Ash! Zubat can't face all those bullets on its own!"

The imposter simply ignored these pleas and fixated his eyes on the bat. The poor creature tried using its supersonic attack to stop the bullets with no luck. It then tried using a combination of a haze attack and a confuse ray on its enemies. This soon resulted in a misty area surrounding the bat with yellow beams shooting all over the place. Due to the sheer panic in its actions, the attacks were very poorly performed and many bullets jabbed into the Zubat's skin. Blood dripped from the sky forcing the bat to the ground. This made it easy prey for another shower of bullets that completely annihilated the creature. "You stupid pokemon! At such a high level you can't even cause some damage to them! You deserve to die!"

"**_ASH!_**" Gary and Giselle screamed in a combination of distress and pure rage. Ash… of all people… just let a pokemon die?

"Sheesh. This Ash person has some pretty wimpy pokemon." The clone thought as he threw another pokeball to the ground. "Let's hope that this creature does better in battle." The ball opened to reveal a high level Dugtrio.

"Ash no! This isn't a battle! It's a killing spree!" Gary desperately bellowed as he tackled him to ground. "Recall your pokemon now!"

And that's when he and Giselle saw it. The eyes of the clone glowed with nothingness… there were no emotions locked within those pupils. It wasn't the eyes of a person; it was the eyes of a robot. He didn't care about anything or anyone except himself and the people that made him. The real Ash adored all his pokemon and all his friends. This clone was simply a shell of this person.

"Misty was right." Giselle breathlessly whispered. This wasn't Ash… he never was and never will be. The imposter swung his fist against Gary's cheek and he responded in kind. 

As this fight was going on, numerous pokemon from Ash's group jumped out of their balls and faced the Rocket agents. Dugtrio burrowed into the earth and tried to take out the agents by dig. A Blastoise was soon unleashed into this chaos and was commanded to drown the ground-type pokemon within the holes that it had made. Being weak against water and trapped underground, Dugtrio eventually surfaced, death catching it with a dazed expression on its face. 

Weepinbell used one of its green vines to whip the Rockets while the other vine tried to choke them to death. The Rockets that managed to avoid these terrors either got slashed by incredibly sharp leaves that were flying through the air or fell pray to the deadly stun spore that was circling through the air. Unfortunately, the enormous amount of energy required to do all these attacks ran out within a few minutes. The Rockets took advantage of this by releasing 3 Rapidashs, the fire horse pokemon, into the battle scene. 3 continuous streams of fire issued from each of the stallions and literally burned the creature to ashes; the plant never had a chance. 

When Ditto reached the skirmish, it wisely transformed into a gun and started firing nonstop at the villains. A couple of bullets proved to be fatal, but it just wasn't enough to significantly damage the whole group. Eventually, some one was smart enough to unleash a Gloom, a depressing and ugly looking plant creature with a blue body and a peach top. The Gloom spewed a bulky glob of acid into the gun's barrel. Ditto coughed out most of the hideous liquid as it changed back into its original form, a pink squishy blob. Anger exploded on its face as the Ditto altered its form into an enormous white fox known as Ninetales. In its new body, Ditto spewed a giant ring of smoldering fire into the air as it directed itself towards Gloom. The fire encircled the beast, frying it to a crisp. The success of the firespin attack didn't last very long, though. The highly trained Blastoise that destroyed Dugtrio blasted two exceptionally large jets of water straight into the unfortunate pokemon. Ninetales cried out in pain and used its remaining strength to transform into a Dragonite. The large dragon, elementally strong against all types of pokemon, soared into the air. A combination of electric, water and fire spewed from the beast mercilessly. Dozens of humans and pokemon hit the dirt in utter pain while blood seeped from their unfortunate bodies. Ultimately, Ditto's plan came to a crashing end as one single well-placed shot pierced straight through its lungs.

"Get off of me!" The fake Ash flung Gary off of him and gasped in horror at the scene. All of Ash's pokemon, even with all their skill and experience, couldn't face these agents without their real master.

Gary and Giselle, who had been so wrapped up trying to get Ash to recall his pokemon, also froze in horror at the sight. Dozens upon dozens of dead bodies were scattered around the area of both pokemon and humans. All four of Ash's pokemon had fought bravely to the end and only one was left: Haunter. Barely a handful of Rockets were still in a good enough condition to fight. However, they were enough to cause worry within the group.

"Haunter, shadow bolt at full power." The clone softly whispered to Haunter who gazed at him strangely before attacking. It changed into a pile of black shadows and started twirling around the heads of all the creatures still alive at the scene, with the exception of three. Screams and bellows filled the night air as intolerable pain cracked against the Rockets poor wretched skulls. Haunter continued to spin around them, allowing for all the agents to feel every ounce of agonizing pain. By the time Haunter was finished, nothing besides three humans and one pokemon even had a heartbeat. 

"Return Haunter." The imposter moaned and allowed the one and only surviving pokemon back into its pokeball. "Looks like we won."

"We won?" Gary snarled in contempt. "With only one pokemon left alive, you actually think that we won?"

Giselle shuttered as she observed the horrendous bloodshed. "Nobody won here; it was a massacre."

"Massacre! You idiots! This was all about survival. Who cares if a couple of pokemon and humans died in the process? It just means that they were too weak to begin with. Weaklings have no place in this world." The clone monotonously declared.

"How dare you?" This time it was Giselle who stepped up to Ash and glared at him. With pure rage fueling her body, she jabbed Ash so hard and severely in the face that he collapsed to the ground. "Who are you and what have you done with Ash?"

By now, both Gary and Giselle could see the truth. There were no doubts in their minds that this wasn't Ash, despite the resemblance. The clone slowly rose to his feet and gave Gary and Giselle one of the coldest looks that could be performed on the human face. He then released Haunter once again and called. "Haunter, shadow bolt at full-force… on them."

The ghost pokemon gazed from the expressionless clone to a quivering Gary and Giselle and then back to the clone. Through its psychic powers, the ghost pokemon could sense that the Ash clone was nothing more than a hollow robot, devoid of any emotions whatsoever. Even the ghost pokemon knew that it wasn't Ash.

"I said shadow bolt at full-force you good for nothing pokemon!" The imposter bellowed in frustration at the hesitation of the ghost pokemon.

Haunter then grinned malevolently at the clone. "(What ever you say… imposter!)"

The clone's eyes widened in terror as the pokemon turned into a black shadow and started circling his own head. "What are… Stop it!" These were the last words of the clone as his screaming and bellowing ceased to exist. The Ash imposter collapsed to the ground, dead.

*~*~*~*~*

"(Ouch… that hurt.)" Pikachu moaned as its was thrown 5 feet into the air and flung into a nearby tree.

"Hang in there, Pikachu!" Misty called as rolled away from a thunder strike. Raikou roared in anger at her continuous evasion of all of his attacks. Seeing that Misty was resting and off guard, Raikou decided to take try a different approach.

Pikachu leisurely raised its eyelids towards the scene before screaming. "(Misty look out! It's about to use a quick attack!)"

Misty quickly saw this and hurriedly climbed up into a tree close by. This resulted in the thunder wolf crashing head on into the tree. Misty sighed gratefully, seeing that she was still alive at the moment. Gazing over to her right, her expression drastically changed to horrified one. "Pikachu, I think that you better be careful." Entei and Suicune both were starting to shake off that electric paralysis attack that Pikachu had given them earlier. Raikou, on the other hand, still seemed to be more charged up by that attack as it continued to ram the tree violently. "Togetic and Poliwrath, I desperately need your help!" She shakily released two pokeballs into the air as two pokemon flew out.

Togetic took to the air and barely managed to save Misty from further thrashing by the electric monster. Like before, Togetic allowed Misty to climb on its back. Immediately splashing a large ray of water at Entei, Poliwrath, a tight package of compact muscles, jumped to the ground. It certainly fit the description of a fighting pokemon with its powerful shape. Also a large white spot emerged on its stomach with a black spiral set in a clockwise fashion. It also resembled a water pokemon due to the fact that it was mostly dark blue with smooth rubbery skin. Having the element advantage over Entei, a fire pokemon, the creature lost an exceeding amount of hit points. Though weakened, the inferno beast was far from out.

With Poliwrath and Entei locked in a battle, Pikachu was forced to face Suicune by itself. Pikachu tried to slash the water creature with thunder, but Suicune used its speed to avoid the large lighting bolts. Pikachu, frustrated, stopped wasting its electricity and tried to think of a strategy. The water beast smiled as it issued an incredibly powerful stream of water straight towards its opponent. The hydro pump attack didn't damage Pikachu much due to its resistance to water attacks. However, a wonderful idea entered the rodent's mind while the attack continued to pound against his wet fur. Pikachu unleashed a powerful thunder attack at its adversary. The electricity conducted through the water and straight to Suicune's body. The dog howled in pain until the attack ended. Pikachu took advantage of the dog's weak state and released another electric paralysis attack. Suicune crumpled to the ground and fainted.

"One down. Two more to go." Misty remarked, as the flying Togetic tried to avoid Raikou's continuous electric attacks by flying higher into the air. The pokemon was also using its double team move, making two more copies of itself. All these actions made it exceptionally hard for Raikou to strike them. 

"(Make that two down.)" Pikachu declared as he scampered to Poliwrath's side and noticed an unconscious Entei nearby. Having the element advantage won out over level during both matches. Regrettably, there wasn't a pokemon in Misty's possession that had an element advantage over electricity.

"Hey… I've got an idea." Misty cheered to herself as she unleashed Clefairy from her pokeball. "Clefairy, sing Raikou to sleep!" Clefairy sat in Misty's arms as she focused her attack on the electric dog.

Raikou's fearsome expression faded as sleepiness soon seized it. Resistance proved to be futile so the dog laid its head on the ground and soon drifted into a deep slumber. The others also felt the effects of the sing attack as Togetic gently dropped to the ground fast sleep. The others reacted in a similar fashion. Clefairy, unlike other pokemon with this attack, smiled at her accomplishment. She then awoke her trainer by shaking her. Misty yawned and opened her weary eyes. Snapping back to reality, Misty ordered. "Poliwrath! Use ice beam on Raikou now!"

Though Poliwrath was still deeply affected by the attack, it was too highly trained to let its trainer's commands go unanswered. Half asleep, the pokemon lifted its body and shot an ice beam towards Raikou. Ice surrounded the sleeping pokemon and soon it was nothing more than an ice sculpture. Poliwrath then collapsed to the ground in a deep slumber.

"Thanks for the help guys." Misty grinned as she returned the three pokemon to their pokeballs. She then walked over to Pikachu, who was still stuck in dreamland. "Pikachu, wake up!" Misty bellowed into the poor rodent's ears. Pikachu instantly snapped its eyes opened and glared at Misty. Before it had a chance to strike Misty with a thunderbolt, she smiled. "Come on now Pikachu. We've already wasted too much time here."

*~*~*~*~*

"Go Fearow!" A well-known voice floated through the air, which Misty immediately recognized as Gary's. Following the command, an orange bird darted into the air, carrying two passengers, Gary and Giselle, on its back. The giant bird flew over the tall electric fence and then landed a little ways away from the battle scene. Gary soon recalled the bird and sighed. "Ok, so here we are. Do you think that Misty and Pikachu are in the building?"

"Think again." Misty curtly answered as she raced into the pair's view with Pikachu on her shoulder. "What are you two doing here?"

"Ash mentioned that both of you were heading to the Silph Co. building." Giselle's eyes darkened at that name, remembering their former experience with his clone. "Anyway, we all decided to follow you here."

"So, where's Ash?" Misty innocently inquired.

Gary and Giselle exchanged worried looks with one another. Finally, Gary took a deep breath and spoke. "Well… we three sort of had this encounter with Team Rocket. In the end, just about everyone was killed… including Ash."

"What?" Misty and Pikachu both gasped in shock. "But how?"

Giselle sighed. She knew that these two were going to take the news bad. "We'll tell you the whole story later. Any chance that you can tell us why you're here?"

Misty bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry. "Um… Brock's cure… Ash's… suspicious escape… needed answers…" Her voice trailed off as her throat swelled with sobs.

Giselle tried console Misty by placing a reassuring arm around her. "Ok… it's all right Misty. Here, don't cry."

Misty's tough attitude took control of her as she snarled. "Who said that I was going to cry? Why would I cry over that brat? It's not liked I cared… about him. He's not worth… the effort… to cry… over…" Misty's voice trembled, as she tried to convince herself of this lie.

Gary gritted his teeth at the awkward situation. "Well, it seems that you two must have had quite a battle here." He sighed, noticing two pokemon that had fainted and one frozen in a large ice cube nearby.

Misty simply nodded and tried to shake of her overwhelming sadness with little success. "Yeah… here… let's get going." The trio strolled up to the building and noticed the fact that there was no back door. Remembering her experience at the Serpent HQ in Cerulean, Misty started searching for an invisible door along the wall. Eventually she found it and the small group walked in.

Inside, the room was laid out like a regular pokemon gym. It seemed to be windowless and devoid of furniture. What was unusual about the area was that it appeared that there had been a fight there. Evidence of water and broken floorboards proved that the fight was very recent. However, the group barely took in these details. They're eyes were focused on the far-right corner of the room where a figure was apparently resting.

Seeing his old friends there, Ash gasped in astonishment. The potion that he was holding dropped to the floor as he whispered. "Oh no… I'm in trouble now."

Misty turned back to Gary and Giselle and yelled. "Hey! I thought you said that Ash was dead!"

"He was… a few minutes ago at least." Giselle whimpered confusedly.

Gary blinked in bewilderment. "You mean that they are two Ashs?"

Misty shook her head, never taking her eyes off Ash. "You mean that there _were_ two Ashs."

Another A/N: Ok, I kind of thought that the ending was a little lame, but oh well. I'll try to bring the next part ASAP, but no promises. Anyway, reviews are appreciated very much! I just love getting them! I guess there's nothing left to say except: Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!


	7. Chapter 6: Race to Serpent Island

Author's Note: Ok… yeah… long wait for this chapter, huh? Terribly sorry about that, but January was an awful month for me and it's been getting harder and harder to find time to type nowadays. Well, I was going to try and make this my last chapter, but it was taking way too long to complete it. So, I split it up and that's why this chapter is shorter than my other parts. A lot of this is set up for my ending chapter, I must warn you. So, without further ado, here's my long-awaited next chapter…

Disclaimer: Yeah… if I owned Pokemon, we'd be seeing episodes with plot lines other than Ash and co. being sappy heroes and TR "blasting off again". Who owns pkmn? A bunch of rich people own it that think that it's all right for a bunch of 10 year olds to travel around the world, promoting fighting…

A Second Chance

Chapter 6: Race to Serpent Island

*~*~*~*~*

The tension in the room continued to mount as the people involved remained staring at one another like powerless zombies. It was more out of shock then anything else. They could have stayed like that for hours: Gary, Giselle and Misty staring at Ash while he did the same. What broke the tension, the shock, the mood of the room was the ignorance and innocence of a small rodent. Sure, Pikachu was smart for its kind, but even smart rats simply couldn't comprehend the bewilderment of the situation as well as humans could.

"(Ash…)" The single word, voiced as 'pikapi' expressed all the emotions of the pokemon. It wasn't the kind of emotions expressed from one pokemon to its trainer. It more resembled a child's love for its long-lost mother. That single 'pikapi' retained in it some of the deepest and strongest sentiments of the animal kingdom; the kind of emotions that painters, poets, and writers often play with in, except that it was all wrapped up in one single word. "(It's really you…)"

Pikachu ran.

He ran like he has never run before.

Ash instinctively draped his arms around the pokemon as it tumbled into his lap. It was all a dream to him… that was until he felt Pikachu's scratchy fur, razor-sharp tail and body heat within his arms. Time once again began its normal track as Pikachu innocently nuzzled his body against Ash's and placed some sloppy kisses on his cheeks.

"Hey! Stop that! Come on! Quit it!" Ash laughed in embarrassment as he pulled the tiny creature off his face. He then gently set the mouse down the floor as he proceeded to wipe the spit off his face with his sleeve. He then mockingly glared as his joyful pokemon. "You always were a silly rat." Just to show that he meant no harm in that statement, Ash affectionately patted its head.

Remembering the words that had previously escaped her lips, Misty sighed. "Ash… is that really you?"

Ash raised his head at this familiar sweet voice as reality hit him. Fear replaced his joy as Ash began to think ahead. She… and the rest of the Rebels might… no… _will be seriously hurt if Lass spots them. "You guys have to get out of here, as in now."_

"Don't even think about throwing us out of here Ash Ketchum! We want answers and we want them now! Like, how come you're still alive? According to Gary and Giselle, you just died outside along with all your pokemon!" Misty screamed in frustration.

Panic entered Ash's veins… enough panic to force him to his feet and make the long jog over to Misty and the others. When he got there, he quickly made some random motions in order to calm her down. "Would you be quiet Misty?" Ash pleaded in a soft whisper. "If Lass hears you…"

"And here we come right back to Lass." Misty groaned in frustration at the continuously repeated name.

A slight gaze of confusion entered Ash's face before he hurriedly pushed the three out the door. He quietly closed the door behind him, that is, after Pikachu escaped from the room. A deep sigh of relief entered Ash's lungs, knowing that Lass probably couldn't hear them out here. "I'm sorry, but I can't give you all a full in-depth explanation at the moment. Reason? I'd say death is a pretty good one. Lass will kill all of you if you stay here any longer, and then she'd kill me for being seen with you guys!"

"Trying to save your own scrawny neck from your girlfriend?" Misty taunted in an icy pitch.

Ash, of course, denied it. "Girlfriend? Me? Like that would ever happen…" His voice cracked slightly at the end of that trite expression.

Gary, who had remained silent during the argument, spoke up. "Ash is right. We better get going."

Seeing that Ash wasn't moving a muscle, Giselle gazed at him peculiarly. "Well, aren't you coming, Ash?"

Ash bit his lip in hesitation. How was he going to tell them that he wasn't coming with them?

Trying to lighten up the thick tension, Misty turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, you sure that this guy is the real Ash?"

"(It's definitely him.)" Pikachu scampered up to Ash and stared deep into his eyes. "(But something has changed about him.)"

"Changed?" Ash mumbled to himself. Has he really changed that much since the last time he saw them? What has Lass done to him?

"Yo, Ash, you ok? You're spacing out." Gary teased as he waved a hand in front of Ash's still face.

Ash barely noticed this as he started thinking about his decision to stay with Lass. Was his wish really worth it? Was he really on Lass' side? Was he on the Rebel's side? What side was he on? Was he even on a side? What should he do?

"I hate my life." Ash simply moaned as he slumped to the floor, still consumed by his own thoughts. If there ever was a turning point in his life, it was now.

Meanwhile, the others watched in bewilderment at Ash's strange behavior. "Looks like we've lost Ash." Giselle murmured.

Misty shook her head. "Well, since Ash doesn't seem to care, how are we going to get Brock's cure?"

"Let's see… we have no idea where it is, what it looks like or how to obtain it; I doubt that our luck could get any worse." Gary voiced with a hopeless expression plastered on his face.

"Maybe we could just wander around. We're bond to find something." Giselle suggested.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Yea, like 50 Serpent agents that will blow our heads off." Turning around, she called. "Hey, Ash, do you have any bright ideas?"

"(What… where'd he go?)" Pikachu questioned in puzzlement. The ground that had last supported Ash held nothing but plants. The lack of bluish mist proved that he didn't teleport out of the area while the lack of footprints proved that he didn't escape by foot either. The lack of noise and time verified that he couldn't have fled into the building either.

"Where'd he run off to?" Gary inquired as he skimmed his eyes across the land.

Giselle licked her chap lips and whispered. "It's like he disappeared into thin air."

*~*~*~*~*

"Oh potion… potion… come on out where ever you are. Where are all the darn potions anyway?" Lass cried in frustration as she started opening empty drawer after empty drawer. "Haven't I told these stupid employees to keep this shelves filled?"

"Looking for one of these?" A mysterious voice called in the darkness. The owner of the unfamiliar voice then threw a bottle filled with a purplish substance at her feet.

Oblivious to the identity of this person or thing, she simply smiled at the potion by her feet. "Finally, a potion. Thank you… huh? What are you doing here!" Lass screamed in shock at her savior. Regaining her breath, Lass scowled. "Don't you _ever scare me like that, Mewtwo!"_

The pokemon whipped its tail around its body as a slow grin formed on its lips. The almost pleasant cat-like features on its body portrayed a charming individual. However, the hard expression situated on its face intensified within its cold blue eyes. The purple and white creature growled. "Are you trying to order me around?" The icy azure sphere that surrounded it popped as the cat willed itself to drop down to the ground.

Realizing that she had just broken a fundamental rule, Lass dropped to her knees, begging for forgiveness. "Never. Please forgive me."

Mewtwo merely waved off this gesture. "As long as you learned your lesson and _never try to deify me again; it's all right."_

Lass nodded and placed her eyes on the pokemon as she rose to her feet. "And you came all this way to help a girl in distress? How courageous of you! Next time I need a potion, you'll be the first pokemon I turn to."

Mewtwo shook his head at this bit of sarcasm. "Lass, you know very well that I wouldn't come all this way just for a potion."

"Then why are you here? I thought that you were never going to speak to me again." Lass reminded him.

"Times change along with promises." Mewtwo cited as his tone turned deadly serious. "I've come here in regards to Ash."

Lass gave him a shy smile. "Ash? What about him? It's not like I've done anything bad to him… at least not terribly bad."

"You lie. You know very well that you weren't supposed to mess with him like that." Mewtwo growled furiously. "Confusion is the stupidest thing one can do. It gives the enemy an unfair advantage and you've turned him into a babbling bubble of bewilderment! He needs to know the truth!"

"Um… he'll get over it. Ash is quick to recover." Lass hopefully declared. "But the important thing is that I did what you asked. He is training now."

"But I requested that before you betrayed me!" Mewtwo exclaimed at the frightened girl. His eyes turned an eerie blue as he snarled. "Before you locked me up in that capsule! Before you tried to send me back as a prisoner to the human race!"

Lass cringed at this whole trip through memory lane. "Um… but we had some good times, right?"

"Fool!" Mewtwo bellowed in rage. "I ought to kill you now! But, I won't… I _can't. I'm afraid that I need you now."_

Lass perked her ears in curiosity. "You need me? Why?"

The cat twisted its head towards the wall. "Keeping you alive will be more beneficial to me rather than killing you straight out."

"What do you mean by that?" Lass demanded curiously. "What are you going to do?"

"Oh, nothing much." Mewtwo grinned as if he was hiding a secret. "I'm sure Ash wouldn't mind delivering the final blow…"

"You're going to make him… kill me! What are you going to do to him?" Lass inquired in shock. Mewtwo left her question unheeded as he rose into the air and vanished in the blink of an eye.

*~*~*~*~*

"Ow…" Ash groaned as he opened his eyes and stared at the darkness. The last thing that he remembered was falling and hitting a cold concrete floor. "At least my head broke the fall." Ash sardonically declared as he tried to quell the throbbing within his skull with little luck.

"Where am I?" Ash asked himself as he carefully examined the room, hoping that it would yield a clue as to why he was here. There wasn't anything especially unusual about the room; it had a bed, a table, a desk and some chairs. It felt like a normal undersized room with a few exceptions. There was a pair of golden cuffs on the desk along with some other bizarre items. Twitching with curiosity, Ash walked over to the desk and gazed at the cuffs.

"I must be in Lass' room." Ash remarked aloud. "I wonder how I got here." As he contemplated this thought, he accidentally touched the golden cuffs on the table. At his touch, the cuffs sprang to life and enclosed his wrists in a tight grip.

After the initial shock wore off, Ash frantically tried to pull the cuffs off his wrists with no success. "What a smart guy I am. I should win a Nobel Prize for stupidity." Ash desperately slammed his wrists against the tabletop, yet the cuffs didn't even retain a crack. All of his efforts, including the use of his powers, backfired and only caused him more pain. Just when he had given up hope, Ash noticed a small keyhole on the cuffs.

"The key has to be around here… somewhere." Ash stated as he started pulling open the desk drawers. The top two drawers contained nothing but random junk. The third drawer, however, held a small book. Ash inquisitively picked up the book and opened the first page.

"I never knew that Lass kept a diary!" Ash exclaimed in shock at the thought of him holding all of her thoughts in one hand. He honestly tried to pull the book away, but something stopped him. His curiosity flew through the roof as he set his eyes on the first page again.

# Dear diary,May 17, 2998

_The time has come. Mewtwo knew this day would have to come, as did I. The constant training can't keep me here. He tells me that the world is in peril but won't tell me how. He tells me that we need to recruit others like me but won't tell me why. He tells me that I can't leave until I complete my training but won't tell me when. I won't stay on due to stray promises. I need answers and I need them now._

_Two days ago I realized part of the truth. I finally figured out how to open the lock to Mewtwo's room. Yesterday, I was rooting through it and discovered two startling pieces of paper. One was written on an aging document, simply titled "The Legends". I read it so many times that I think I memorized most of it. The other paper was my file, but I didn't have time to read all of it. But, it looks like all those weird dreams I had weren't dreams after all; he kidnapped me when I was a baby. Besides the dreams, I can't remember a single thing about my former life._

_Unfortunately, Mewtwo caught me sneaking around and severely reprimanded me. I probably won't be able to move for another week. However, I did hear him talking to himself again. This time I managed to pick up a few phrases "Ash Ketchum, were you really right?" and "… all those years ago. If only you knew what I knew." Well, whoever this Ash Ketchum person was, he was obviously important to Mewtwo._

_But, I don't have time to think about this. Right now, I need to figure out how to escape from here._

___Lass_

Ash blinked in surprise at seeing his own name in her diary. Unable to control his impulses, Ash flipped through a few of the others pages. As his eyes focused on the date, he let out a slight gasp. "July 15, 3003! Why, that's 3 days before I ran away from Pallet!" A shiver rustled through his system as he thought back to the day. After he forced the memories out of his head, Ash set his eyes on the sheet.

# Dear diary,July 15, 3003

# So far, things have been going pretty good. My escape 4 years ago has had no consequences as of yet. Mewtwo is still stuck in a capsule… I'm thinking that I'll give the Rockets some "hints" as to where to find him. Hopefully, they'll be smart enough to destroy him or, better yet, train him.

_After a lot of work, I found out where this Ash Ketchum lives. Turns out that he is staying with his mom and a few of his friends in a small town called Pallet, right next to Viridian City. I wonder why Mewtwo thinks that he has the gift… he doesn't look that talented._

"Hey!" Ash yelled at Lass' comments. "That's sooooooooo not true!"

Then again, I've heard that he recently became a pokemon master. Perhaps looks are deceitful.

_ _

"That's better!" Ash nodded his head as his swollen ego was restored. "But… should I take the last part as a compliment or an insult?"

This kid looks pretty innocent; I doubt that he can handle the implications if he does have the gift. Also, I remember Mewtwo's insistence on training him… like I really want to follow orders from that nearly dead cat. I've wanted to get revenge on that bossy pokemon for a long time; perhaps the key is with this Ash Ketchum. I would really like to see his face when he hears that the student that betrayed him kills his most promising pupil. If he ever breaks out of that capsule, he's going to go crazy with rage.

The plan is already set. I'm sending my best Serpent agent on the job, Jeff Wilson. I even forced him into a Rocket uniform, just in case the police catch him. I figure that once he shots Ash Ketchum, and, if necessary, his companions, I'll finally have my revenge…

Ash slammed the book to the ground, not wanting to read another word of the horrible manuscript. His anger forced him to bang his fist on the desk a couple of times before pain got the better of him. He slowly sank to the floor, beside the vile book. As he leaned his back against the small table, a couple of sore tears slipped to the ground. "No… it can't be true." He kept repeating this hopeless phrase to himself as he focused his blurry red eyes toward the ground. There, he noticed a golden key sitting nearby his leg. "It must have dropped from its hiding spot after all that banging on the desk."

Instead of getting the key and releasing the cuffs from his wrists, Ash stayed perfectly motionless on the floor. He was too emotionally drained at the moment. Learning the scandalous truth about your past can do that to a person. As his eyes closed in complete exhaustion, Ash mumbled a determined promise to himself, "I will kill her…"

*~*~*~*~*

The creature sighed. Her little tail twirled anxiously in the air as she gazed down at the patient in the hospital bed. Why did she wait so long to help out anyway? Oh yeah… it was because of him…

There was once a time when he wasn't that inclined to revenge and power. For a brief time, Mewtwo was content with his life on his little island… far away from anyone, except "his pets" and me. But he was never built for peace. His soul needed challenges… it needed power. 

And that's when he discovered the Legends. Where he got it, I'll never know how, but he attained it and learned about the existence of the "chosen ones"… people who had pokemon power. Through his far superior magic, he discovered two of these individuals… one of them, ironically enough, was the one that begged him to covert to peace around 9 years later. Taking the most powerful one out of the two, he tried to train her, hoping to create the first truly powerful and generous human. But he only accomplished half of his goal. He did create the most powerful human in existence… the most powerful monster in existence as well.

She tried to clear the vicious memories out of her head. Fear of Mewtwo won't keep her from helping the innocent anymore. Hospital nurses walked in and out of the room, not noticing a hovering pink cat just to the right of the lifeless patient. She smiled quietly, straining to keep up her invisibility attack.

When the hospital staff left the room, she delicately placed her paws on the sick man's chest. Powerful rays of blinding light enclosed the dying body with a certain angelic glow. The man, with his spiky brown hair, quivered slightly at such vigorous waves of pure energy. By the time the illumination died down, the man seemed to breathe easier and seemed to be more at ease. His hand started trembling for a moment as his eyelids flickered open. After curiously gazing at his surroundings, he oddly stared to his right. If he didn't know any better, he could swear that there was a cherry-white feline floating just beside him. Before he had a chance to respond, a soft voice echoed within his head, "Get away from here as fast as can. They need you…" The creature then made its disappearance from the area.

*~*~*~*~*

"Hit Squad #1… #2… #3#4#5#6………. Someone answer this damn radio!" Giovanni cried in frustration as he slammed the radio into the table. The radio, designed to withstand everything from bullets to dragon rage, crackled with bolts of electricity before smoking with death.

"Is… is something wrong sir?" A timid voice called from behind his closed door.

Giovanni smiled at such a question. A smile on Giovanni's face never represented happiness… just plain lunacy. The Rocket Boss was only a few notches away from a total breakdown. "What do you want?"

A shy head peeked out from behind the door, fear circling with her soft face. "I… I just thought you might want to turn to channel 7."

Giovanni shook his head in disgust. Hundreds of his best agents have disappeared off the face of the earth and she wants him to watch TV? "I don't have time to deal with such nonsense. Leave now."

The young Rocket agent quivered at his foul tone. "Sir, I afraid that it's pretty important." Not wanting to waste another minute in that icy room, she hurriedly left.

Consumed by curiosity, Giovanni searched his desk for the remote control. Once found, he turned on the TV.

"… around 12:00-3:00 am. The exact cause of this massacre, which has been dubbed by some as the Saffron massacre, is presently unknown. It appears that hundreds of people belonging to the gang Team Rocket have been found dead at the scene…"

"**What!!!!" Giovanni screamed in an inhumane voice as he sprang to his feet and slammed his comfortable chair across the room. Unnoticed by him, his Persian felt the full impact of the moving chair. Knocked into unconsciousness, the cat fell limp on the floor.**

"… the only person found at the scene not in a Rocket uniform has been identified as young Ash Ketchum. It appears that his disappearance six years ago has met a tragic end…"

"What the? Giovanni questioned as he clenched his fist in utter joy. His eyes flashed in a reddish glow of insanity. Suddenly, the murder of hundreds of some of his best agents meant nothing to him anymore. He finally destroyed Ash Ketchum… at last… his revenge was complete. "He's… dead? Finally dead?"

*~*~*~*~*

"He's dead?!" Pro. Oak screamed in terror as he shook the TV set, hoping that his pathetic actions could change the course of history. "No….. this wasn't what was supposed to happen!"

"Who's dead?" Joe questioned as he entered the room, dressed in a thick coat and holding a clipboard in his hands.

Pro. Oak refused to answer the question as he turned back to the television set. "… Forensic teams have been trying to reconstruct the events that happened here with little success. Apparently, Ash Ketchum came to this spot during the very early hours of the morning. It is believed that he came here with five pokemon, perhaps six, but all of them have disappeared from the scene; all the dead pokemon here belongs to dead Team Rocket agents, as was determined by a pokemon expert…"

"What was Ash doing there? I thought that Lass convinced him to join the Serpents!" Joe screamed in confusion.

Pro. Oak gazed at Joe strangely. "Who's Lass?"

Joe slowly smiled, realizing his blunder. "Oops… I guess I've said too much. Nighty night Pro. Oak." Taking a dark canister out of his coat, he sprayed its contents at Pro. Oak who drifted off into a restless sleep.

*~*~*~*~*

"… From what can be determined, there was at least one ghost pokemon here that caused massive head trauma to numerous victims, including the once pokemon master, Ash Ketchum. Police have their suspicions that this is somehow connected with the suspicious activities circling around the Silph Co. Building. Numerous attempts at trying to get into the building has failed and, therefore, the police have been given permission to break into the building and arrest the occupants for further question…"

"This can't be happening." Jessie cried as she tried to close her eyes to shut out the awful news. Already their headquarters was decimated and now… now the police was raiding their other main building. The Serpents were being destroyed before her very eyes… and there was nothing that she could do about it. "Please say that it isn't true."

"But it is." A deep voice called from behind her.

Jessie breath came in pants as she exclaimed. "Who is that?" Thinking that it was probably some kid wanting a badge, she added. "And no battles for today."

"I'm not here to battle." The voice answered as the person moved away from the shadows.

"No… it couldn't be. James?" Jessie hesitantly questioned.

"In the flesh." James curtly responded and strolled over to the terrified female. "Watching a little news, Jess? Now that's something I've never seen you do."

Jessie's eyes gazed curiously up at him. "I'm doing a lot of things that you've never seen me do." She then turned back to the TV.

"… In other news, a hospital victim awoke today in Cerulean after battling an unknown disease for several days. It appears that he is in perfect shape and doctors are at a loss at his quick recovery. The new disease, dubbed Stellar by one of the doctors, is an incurable disease and this patient is the only known survivor of it to date…"

"But… that's impossible." Jessie murmured in shock.

James stared at her with a peculiar look on his face. "What do you mean impossible?"

Jessie dropped her eyes to the ground. "There's no cure for Stellar."

*~*~*~*~*

"Oh…" Ash groaned as he lifted his heavy eyes. He squinted them instinctively while trying to get some bearings on his surroundings. When his eyes adjusted to the light, Ash sighed. "It's morning. I must have fallen asleep."

He then gazed down at the cuffs on his wrists and at a golden key nearby. After inserting the key into the keyhole of both cuffs, he gently placed them on top of the dresser. His eyes then darted over to the open book on the floor as memories flooded his system. "Lass' diary."

He then closed the book and placed it back in its proper place. "I hope I never lay eyes on that again." Ash thought as he lifted his body off the floor.

Loud footsteps were heard outside along with strange voices. "Check in here. There has to be more Serpents around here."

"What?" Ash silently whispered in alarm. It must be a raid… but by who? Fear built up in his system; he had to hide… now. If it was Rocket agents, they'll kill him on the spot. Ash anxiously searched the room for a possible hiding spot but none came to mind. His muscles froze in terror, awaiting his death punishment.

"This room is locked." A feminine voice commented as she jiggled the knob to Lass' room.

"There's no turning back." Ash gulped in terror, sure that they were going to exterminate him.

"Blast it open then!"A masculine voice commanded as it was followed by two gunshots. The lock cracked open and the two people entered the room.

"The police?" Ash blinked in confusion and collapsed to his knees and held his hands over his head. "Go ahead, arrest me."

"Did you hear something?" The male cop questioned and started searching around the room. "I swear I just heard someone's voice."

"Me too." The female cop retorted as her eyes moved swiftly around the room.

Ash gazed at them in utter confusion. He rose to his knees and blocked the woman's vision. "Hello?"

The female shivered. "Gosh, now I know I just heard something! Does this room seem a bit cold to you?"

"Yeah, actually it does." The male officer replied. "Here, let's do a clean search of this place before checking out the other quarters."

"What's wrong with them?" Ash thought as he watched them search around the room. He then walked over to a nearby mirror and gazed into it. There was no reflection. As his breathing rapidly increased, Ash gazed down at his own hands only to discover that they weren't there… at least he couldn't see them. "This makes no sense."

"Maybe that voice was just our imagination." The female officer trembled as she gazed around the room. She could swear that there was someone else here… watching her.

"Yeah… that's all it was… our imaginations." The man replied as he and his female counterpart raced out of the room.

Ash gazed back at the mirror. "I'm dead? No… that makes no sense. But… what else could have happened to me?"

Spooking himself out, Ash opened the doorknob and dashed into the hallway.

*~*~*~*~*

"Can't you dial any faster?" Misty shouted as she glared at Gary.

Gary held the phone to his ear and growled. "Shut up! You're ruining my concentration!"

Before Misty could retort, Giselle flashed her a warning look. "Misty, let the man dial, ok?"

Misty slumped to a nearby chair with a venomous look on her face. Gary ignored her and turned his attention back to the phone. "Hello? Cerulean hospital? I want to check up on the status of a patient currently residing at your hospital. His name is Brock Slate."

A few anxious moments passed as Gary held the phone to his ear. "Oh… really?Then it's true? How's his condition now?" Gary listened for a few more seconds before replying. "All right. Yes. Yes, we'll come and get him immediately. Thanks for all your help. Bye." Gary hung up the phone and was met with questionable stares.

"Well, what did they say?" Giselle asked.

Gary sighed. "The news reports were right; Brock did make a remarkable overnight recovery. Right now, he's conscious and is asking for all four of us."

"Four?" Giselle moaned in confusion.

Misty shook her head. "He means the three of us and Ash. Go on Gary."

"Well, the doctors have run some tests on him and they say that he's perfectly healthy. All he needs is a few hours of rest." Gary stated.

"Do they have any idea as to how Brock recovered?" Misty questioned curiously.

Gary grunted in negative. "Afraid not."

"So, are we all going to Cerulean?" Giselle inquired with a bored expression on her face.

"But, what about Ash? He keeps disappearing every few seconds!" Gary huffed.

Misty was silent for a moment. "How about we all split up? One person goes and gets Brock, another stays here, searching for Ash and someone else goes to Pallet."

"Wait… Pallet? Why Pallet?" Giselle moaned irritably.

Misty sighed. "Have you even tried calling Pro. Oak? The line is disconnected. We haven't given him a status report since we left Cerulean. One of us has to tell him about all the recent events that happened here."

"Why?" Gary absentmindedly questioned.

"Why?" Misty repeated and exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Pro. Oak deserves to know what's going on around here! He is the one that assigned us to this stupid mission in the first place!"

"All right, all right… we'll go to Pallet." Giselle whispered in a soothing voice. Even she could see that this whole mission was driving everyone crazy, including Misty, probably one of the most practical people on the team. "Here, if you want, I'll go to Pallet myself, ok?"

"Sure, pick the easy job." Gary mumbled.

Giselle frowned. "What did you say?"

Not really in the mood for a fight, Gary shook his head. "Nothing. But, I'll go to Cerulean. Saffron is starting to get on my nerves."

"Ok then. It's settled. Giselle will go to Pallet, Gary will go to Cerulean and I'll stay here and search for that pesky Ash. Let's say we met back here tomorrow at noon, that'll give us more than 24 hours. And let's keep in touch with these." Misty then tossed them two cell phones. "If any problems occur, we need to call each other. The numbers are already programmed into the phone itself."

"Where did you get these?" Gary gazed at her questionably.

Misty shyly grinned. "Your grandfather has a nice stock of cell phones."

"Then why didn't you give it to us in the first place!?" Giselle demanded.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "We didn't need them then."

"Hey, who gets to keep Pikachu?" Giselle questioned as the trio gazed down at the yellow rodent at their feet.

"Well, besides Ash, I'm the only one that understands it. I'll take Pikachu." Misty smiled at the pokemon who was in a deep slumber.

"Ok, so it's agreed. We meet back here tomorrow at noon." Gary remarked.

*~*~*~*~*

"What do you mean there is no cure for Stellar?" James demanded in a stern voice. "Are you telling me that the patient in Cerulean just magically got better on his own accord? That it was a miracle?"

"There are no miracles in this world; only lucky events." Jessie coldly responded. "Stellar was developed to take over the world… to destroy enemies. It was meant as a weapon to fight the few that resisted the Serpent's world domination. All the people that have died so far were test subjects."

"Test subjects? You mean that in Cerulean and Saffron, the Serpents have been developing a disease for world domination? That there is no hope for the future?" James yelled in shock. The future looked much bleaker than he had originally thought.

"No, it wasn't developed in those two cities. They create this disease on a little deserted island north of Cinnabar Island called Serpent Island." Jessie stated, not even releasing how much information she was giving away.

A slow smile formed on James' lips. "Jessica, there is still hope for the future. All the stocks of Stellar were destroyed in Cerulean and confiscated by the police in Saffron, right? Then, that means that the only place that still has Stellar is this deserted island. Will you help me destroy it? If Lass gets control of this world… then everything is lost."

"Yeah, Jessie. Let's do what Jimmy says." The Ghastly remarked as it materialized beside Jessie.

James gazed curiously at the Ghastly. "That voice… but… it couldn't be."

The Ghastly wickedly grinned at James. "But it is. I may be a ghost, but I've still got the same spirit that Meowth did."

"Amazing…" James whispered as he stared at the image of his former friend.

Turning back to Jessie, Ghastly smiled. "Let's listen to James. What's there left ta lose?"

Jessie turned to the vaporous form and sighed. "You're right. We've already lost everything else… what's a few more lives."

"Not too optimistic I see." James commented. "Here, how about I go up to Cerulean and check out this patient… perhaps he's naturally resistant to it or something like that. You can go to Serpent Island and try to destroy it from the inside. Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yeah… if you want, here's the number." Jessie feebly replied as she handed James a piece of paper.

James quickly scribed down something on another piece of paper and handed it to Jessie. "Ok, here's my number. Let's keep it contact if any of us gets in trouble. When I learn more about this patient, I'll call you and try to meet you on the island. You can give me the coordinates later, ok?"

"Ok." Jessie whispered.

James gazed intently at her. "Jessie, is everything all right?"

"No." Jessie responded shakily. "I was just wondering why I didn't do this before."

James shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it just wasn't the right time."

*~*~*~*~*

Ash smiled happily as he trotted down the corridor. Everywhere, there were hundreds of police officers yet none of them seemed to notice him. Suddenly, nothing mattered to him anymore; Lass, Misty, Brock, Gary, Giselle… then were simply distant memories. Ash felt as if he were 10 years old again as he playfully tapped numerous policemen on their backs… no one could ever find him.

He never thought that scaring people could be so much fun. You won't believe what a couple of "boos" here and there can do to a person! Unfortunately, his merriment ended all too soon.

Ash managed to find his way outside and gazed at all the Serpent agents that were caught. True, the police did say that they were going to question and release them, but it was just an excuse. The truth was that the police had been waiting for months, perhaps years, to break into the building.

Ash soon spotted Lass and scowled in disgust. "What a vile piece of trash!" Ash bitterly cursed inside his head. Ash stared at the police officer that was holding her. Sure he could have easily punched the guy unconscious and let Lass escape. But after all that she has done to him… "You deserve this." Ash whispered into Lass' ears.

"Ash?" Lass quivered uneasily. Her eyes frantically searched the area for him. It was strange; she couldn't see him at all, yet something was telling her that he was close… extremely close.

His grin increased at Lass' confusion. He would kill her, but not now… too many people were around. Ash then took off, wondering where he should go. He really hadn't the slightest clue where his friends were or where to look for them.

Ash walked into a small patch of woods nearby in order to figure it all out. When he wasn't watching, he accidentally crashed into a tree. "Ouch! Well… at least I know I'm not dead."

"Ok… think… not invisible… not colorless… colorful… think having a reflection in the mirror…" Ash groaned to himself. As if by magic, his body became visible in the light, complete with his old worn-out set of clothes.

Ash smiled as he looked down at his own hands. "Invisibility… does such an attack exist?" He then crept into the edge of the forest and watched the scene in front of the Silph Co. building. He let out a slight gasp as he observed something he missed before. Hundreds of white chalk lines were cut into the black concrete all in the shape of… human beings. "What happened here?"

The bodies left at the scene were being loaded into stretchers. Some were burnt behind recognition, others were drowned in water, others seemed to be strangled, and others… he just didn't want to think of the ones that really suffered. His curiosity getting the better of him, Ash scampered into the scene and over to the few remaining bodies. Unfortunately, he made the crucial mistake of not turning invisible again.

"It couldn't be…" One of the sharper police officer moaned as he observed Ash walk over to one of the dead. "It's a ghost!" The calls of the man attracted more people to turn in Ash's direction. Each one of their faces turned deadly pale in fear, sincerely believing that Ash was a walking phantom.

Ash didn't seem to notice the commotion that he was causing and stared at the dead man in a Rocket uniform. The tortured expression… the lack of cuts… it could only be shadow bolt. "Haunter did this?" Ash whispered in horror. His eyes soon darkened. "What did that clone do to my pokemon?"

"It a real ghost… can you believe it?" Ash perked his ears at this random statement. By now, he had gotten the attention of most of the crowd.

"I guess it's time to make my disappearance." Ash remarked as he tried to summon his strength into an invisibility move. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Ash managed to complete the attack. The gasps from the crowd seemed to increase in intensity.

Lass observed the scene with surprise. "Ash already learned invisibility? He's faster than I thought."

*~*~*~*~*

Gary once again turned around. It had to be his imagination. There was no one following him… no one. Remember… no one is following. No one…

His ears once again picked up unusual sounds. Why would anyone follow him, anyway? All he has to do is keep his cool… and not go crazy. Those noises were just the wind… nothing more, nothing less.

"Ok, who's there?" Gary screamed. So much for keeping his cool. But those sounds… they were too real to be taken lightly. "Come on out!"

Seeing that no one was departing from the bushes, Gary turned around only to be startled once again. Standing in front of him was a dark figure cast in a somber navy coat. A blackened hood covered his face making it impossible for Gary to recognize him. Mustering all the courage that he could, Gary yelled. "Who are you?"

"Well, well Gary… we meet again." The figure remarked as he removed his hood and stepped closer to Gary.

Gary, being smarter than Ash in some respects, smiled. "No motto, redhead or talking cat? I almost didn't recognize you there, James."

James casually grinned. "Nice to see you again, Gary."

"So, what brings you out here? Trying to steal a Pikachu from Cerulean?" Gary smirked.

James shook his head. "Nope, trying to steal some information. That Brock is a true medical miracle."

"Brock?" Gary uneasily questioned. "What about him?"

"Well, he's the only patient in Cerulean that was suffering from Stellar…" His voice quieted down to a hush as he roughly pulled Gary and himself behind a few thorny bushes. "Don't even breath."

Gary, itself, was having a hard time enough doing that since James' hand was covering his mouth and nose. "Mwhwhwhw…" Were the only sounds coming from Gary's lips until he saw them. Two ragged people emerged from the trail both emerged in a hot dispute.

"I'm telling you, dad didn't! End of story!" A raspy female voice croaked, her vocal cords straining as if she had been using them for a while.

"How can you deny the evidence! Lass would only use her best sharpshooter to pull off such a mission and he was the best sharpshooter at the time!" A male voice yelled in response.

The ticked-off female clenched her teeth before desperately shrieking. "He would never do that, Win! The Jeff Wilson I knew would only fight when he was forced to! He only became the best to protect us!" After catching her breath, she growled. "And you know very well what the Master would do is she heard you speak her name! We are to always refer to her as Master you numbskull!"

"Julie, I'm telling you… I saw him that day with a Rocket uniform! And you know that a neighbor in Pallet shootings, 6 years ago, saw a man dressed in a Rocket uniform fleeing the scene!" Win cried distraughtly.

Gary managed to free his mouth from James' strong grip. "Pallet shootings?"

Sensing trouble from his younger companion, James tightly repositioned his hand back over his mouth and held him down even more forcefully than before. "Don't blow our cover."

Though the words were little comfort to the hysterical, anxious boy, Gary managed to hold his tongue. He knew that any impulsive behavior on his part would probably result in getting caught by the enemy. Plus, he didn't have a choice. "Ok."

Julie closed her tired eyes before trying to change the subject. "So, what do you think the Master wants with this Brock kid anyway?"

Win shrugged his shoulders. "Got me. All she said was to bring him alive to Serpent Island. Probably wants to run more test on him. I heard that the lab was getting short on guinea pigs for their new experiments."

This time it was James who could barely contain his impulsive actions. Using innocent people for tests like that! Just how inhumane were they? Fortunately, the shabby agents retreated from the area before James could act on his whim. It was after a few restless minutes that James released his aggravated companion. Before giving Gary the chance to yell at him, James hastily spoke. "Come on. We better find Brock before they do."

*~*~*~*~*

Death

The word could barely describe it.

It was worse than a murder.

Worse than a massacre.

Nothing could describe it.

It was evil…

It was death.

Misty held her breathe as her eyes transfixed on corpse. She then turned to face another lifeless body… and another… and another… and another. It was a party of death… a silent spooky party.

Sickle blood still dribbled from one of the victims… how they managed to survive till morning is a mystery that no one will understand. Most of the metal drawers were closed but a few were wide open clutching the bodies of the deceased. A stench of rotting flesh mixed in with repugnant chemicals consumed the air.

Misty was now having doubts. Sure, the idea of breaking into a morgue and trying to find any clues on Ash's dead clone seemed like a good idea outside. But, in here, the remains of the departed reigned supreme.

Trying to quell her feelings of anxiety, Misty focused on the nameplates on the metal drawers. Most remained nameless while others only possessed a first name. As her eyes started glazing over in boredom, Misty spotted her destination. She tentatively placed her fingers on the drawer marked "Ketchum, Ash".

"Hold it right there!" A voice boomed from behind.

Misty sighed in frustration and held her hands over her head. Caught red-handed.

The owner of the voice shoved what felt like the barrel of a gun into her back. The person roughly grabbed her wrists and snapped a pair of handcuffs on them. She was then forced to turn around and face her perpetrator. Noticing the uniform, she assumed that he must be a security guard.

He shook his head, baffled by her actions. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a lawyer…"

*~*~*~*~*

"Return Gyarados." Jessie demanded as the water/dragon beast disappeared in a ray of light and into the pokeball. She sighed as she swiftly turned around. The sight of a lush sandy beach entered her vision along with stray palms sprouting from the sand. A few yards away, the coast converted into a scratchy patch of grassland. But that wasn't what caught her eye. What interested her was a desolate building sitting atop the grass. After gathering some courage, Jessie leisurely moved her legs towards the building.

"Identification needed." A robotic voice chimed. A slight yawn issued from Jessie's lips as she typed in her badge code. With a loud beep, the metal door to the complex swung open.

Jessie entered a darkened hallway. Moving to her right, she quickly passed through a maze of passageways before arriving at a door. She rapidly entered some numbers into a nearby keypad before the door cracked open.

A group of people seemed to be spread out in what looked like a science classroom. Their white coats wrapped around their bodies as they ignored the newcomer. Jessie took no notice of the scientists and walked across the room. She then opened another door and entered what was clearly the control center of the place. Bundles of machines were stacked all over the place along with an easy chair designed to hold the overseer of this vast amount of equipment. The person, seated in the easy chair, sensed a presence in the room and swirled their chair around until their eyes rested on Jessie.

"Jessie?" The lady in the chair questioned in surprise.

A phony smile spread across Jessie's lips. "And hello to you, Tammy."

Tammy flickered her eyelids before realizing that her eyes weren't lying; Jessie, of all people, was in the room. Her dark brown hair was neatly tied up in a high ponytail with the exception of a single strand of hair at the side of her face. Tammy's eyes glowed emerald with flecks of gold dancing across her pupils. Her skin appeared somewhat tanned and perfectly matched her lush crimson blouse and pitch-black cotton pants. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit to?"

"I have some news for you. HQ has been destroyed while the building in Saffron is being raided by the police as we speak." Jessie briefly recounted.

Tammy continued to stare at Jessie as her eyes started flickering blackish-green. "Impossible. Master would have sent Win and Julie to inform us."

"It's hard to get here when you're in a jail cell." Jessie spoke with an icy pitch. "Just try and contact them if you don't believe me."

Even before Jessie finished her sentence, Tammy grabbed a nearby radio. "Win and Julie, respond immediately." A few moments of scratchy silence followed before Tammy crossly tossed the radio aside. She then picked up a phone. A brief conversation followed before she placed the phone back on the receiver. "All right, if both buildings are destroyed, where is the Master?"

Jessie contemplated that for a moment before responding. "Her location is unknown at the moment. But, she has informed me to come to Serpent Island and assist operations here."

Tammy growled. She hated it when she couldn't confirm orders like that. "Fine. You know where the extra rooms are. You can supervise the scientist geeks with their projects."

"She also said that all testing and experimenting was to stop until she returns." Jessie whispered, wondering if Tammy would believe her.

Tammy glared at her opponent with vicious eyes. An unusual feeling formed in her stomach… Jessie was holding back something… she wasn't telling the whole truth. But, it didn't matter what she thought. If Jessie was correct, she didn't want to risk the consequences of disobeying the Master. Her consequences were far from harsh… they were excruciating agony. "Testing will cease then."

A small grin developed on Jessie's lips. This was easier than she had thought.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, you are one lucky girl… one very lucky girl." The cop grinned. "Turns out that the morgue isn't going to press any charges. All you have to do is pay a small fee and you're home-free."

Misty heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much." Taking out a small wallet from her pocket, Misty gave some money to the man.

She then started walking around the police station, trying her best to find the exit. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Misty managed to get lost in the hallways. Having too much pride to ask someone where the entrance was, Misty ended up walking around in circles.

"Oh, sorry." Misty quickly mumbled, seeing that she bumped into someone. As she turned around, she realized that the person she banged into was none other than Lass herself. With her hands locked in tight cuffs, she was being lead away by a policeman. "It couldn't be…"

Sensing Misty's presence, Lass turned around. A crafty grin formed on her lips. "Well, long time no see."

"Keep moving." The policeman roughly ordered as he tried to force Lass to walk. Closing her eyes, blackness issued from her body and seemed to surround the whole area. By the time the darkness diminished, Misty blinked her eyes open in disbelief. Around her, all activity came to an abrupt halt. Various people stood frozen to their spots with the exception of herself and Lass.

"You can freeze time?" Misty questioned with sincere curiosity.

Lass bobbed her head up and down, never letting that shrewd smile leave her face. "Along with other things."

"So, what do you want?" Misty asked, slightly apprehensive.

"You're looking for something." Lass simply stated as she stared into Misty's eyes. "Ash is on your mind."

"What makes you say that?" Misty growled in response. "Have you stooped low enough to read other people's minds?"

Lass shook her head amazed at her innocent thoughts. "Reading people's mind is a weapon… you need every weapon you can get to win the war."

Misty raised her hand to her head, as if that harmless gesture could protect her from Lass' amazing powers. "If that's true, then you know that I'm still looking for him. Do you know where he is?"

"It's just like Ash to disappear without a trace." Lass slowly contemplated. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was standing right in front of you and you didn't notice a thing."

Misty impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. "You have a real difficultly answering a simple question. A yes or no would have been sufficient."

"I prefer to be original." Lass remarked leisurely. "You wouldn't be able to find him. Unless he wants to be found, Ash will remain in hiding for as long as it takes."

"That's quite amazing considering the state that he was in when I last saw him." Misty murmured threateningly. "Why doesn't he want to be found?"

"Who knows?" Lass sighed as she started to talk more to herself than to Misty. "Ash is too mysterious to understand. I doubt that even Mewtwo can deal with him."

"Mewtwo?" Misty repeated wondering why that name sounded familiar to her.

Lass took in a deep breath not really caring what she had just told Misty. "Once I considered him my teacher and then I considered him my enemy. Funny… Ash is doing the same thing to me…"

Misty blinked, trying to process the information. Her eyes then focused on the cuffs still gripping Lass' wrists. "What are you doing here anyway? Why don't you just break out?"

Lass gazed down at the metal cuffs. "Because, Ash and Mewtwo both want me dead. To be out in the open means risking death. I'll escape only when the time comes."

The darkness in the scenery abruptly evaporated into a blinding ray of light. Misty closed her eyes only to open them a second later. Time began its normal course as people continued with their activities. For a moment, Misty thought that the whole discussion was simply a dream. This notion soon disappeared when she saw the fleeting image of Lass rounding the bend.

Misty remained there as memories of the previous conversation flooded her brain. Her eyes… there was something behind them… something she just couldn't grasp. For a moment, Lass had lost her air of craftiness and almost became… remorseful? Sympathetic?

Misty shook her head. She must delusional.

*~*~*~*~*

"Oh…" Ash cried as he collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion. A high-pitched shrill echoed across the forest at his sudden appearance. Panting heavily, Ash forced his body up and into a sitting position against a sturdy tree. His arms wiggled like watered-down jello while his legs felt like they needed to be amputated. He found out the hard way what happens when you stay invisible for too long.

As his heart returned to its normal track, Ash sighed. "Great… everyone thinks I'm a ghost. What am I going to do?"

As he sat in deep in thought, a brave Pidgey flew into the area. The brown pigeon-like creature quietly hopped to Ash's side with an inquisitive look within its petite pupils. Ash simply ignored this pest and continued pondering his situation. Noticing that it was being ignored, the bird turned rather agitated and jumped up on top of Ash's shoulder.

By now, Ash had quite enough of this annoying visitor. He flicked the creature off his shoulder with an irritated grunt. "What's your problem?"

"No, what's your problem?" Startled by the strange voice, Ash twisted his head towards the dark forest behind him. "I'm standing right in front of you."

Ash gazed down at the Pidgey once again. This time, fear and shock covered his face as he moved a few steps back. What troubled him was that he heard the pokemon's voice inside his head, not through his ears. "Who are you?"

The Pidgey slowly smiled. "I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" A brilliant white light enveloped the pokemon, blinding Ash in the process. By the time the fair glow dissipated, the Pidgey had disappeared only to be replaced with a pink fluff-ball known as a Clefairy. "Is this better?"

"W… what?" Ash stammered, still in shock at having a wild Pidgey talking in his head and changing form within a blink of an eye. "What are you?"

"A pokemon!" The creature laughed merrily with a strangely familiar squeaky pitch. "What else dummy?"

"Hey!" Ash called, slightly ticked off at this happy-go-lucky creature. "What kind of pokemon are you?"

"One that can transform. Also, a pokemon that recently learned how to talk to humans psychically!" The Clefairy remarked in a giggly tone.

"All right…" Ash mumbled still as confused as before. "Why are you here?"

"Because… I want to talk to you!" The Clefairy chimed as it transformed into a Pikachu. "Also… I've got a message for you."

"A message?" Ash whispered. "What message?"

The pokemon grinned as it played with its new jagged tail. "Look! I'm a pika-messager! With a sharp tail too!"

Ash stared oddly at the Pikachu before letting out an exasperated moan. It was like he was babysitting a 2 year old. "That's nice… here, can you tell me what the message was?"

"You have to go… go to Serpent Island." The silly Pikachu smiled. "Do you think that they have Ekans and Arboks there?"

"Um… sure… yeah… lots of them." Ash quickly muttered. "Here, can you tell me why I have to go to this island?"

"Cuz… everyone's going there! You and Misty have to save the day!" The unknown pokemon chimed excitedly.

"Misty? Guess I have to find her then…" Ash whispered to himself before turning his attention back to the energized rat. "Ok… so where is this island?"

The Pikachu glowed white once again. However, when the light evaporated, the Pikachu was still there but held a small map in its paws. "Here… take!"

"Ok…" Ash sighed as he took the map from the Pikachu. "Who sent you?"

The pokemon smiled. "Me! I sent me! Although, he probably wants you there as well… but, for other bad, bad reasons. You know… he can be so strict… I really think he should lighten up at times…"

"Who's 'he'?" Ash interrupted, not really in the mood for this.

The Pikachu wrapped itself with white light before changing into its original form. A soft pink color flowed across the creature while its eyes glistened a deep blue. As it hovered through the air, its particularly long tail draped around its cat-like body. "Why Mewtwo of course!"

Ash's memory sprang to life as he gazed at the creature with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Mew?"

He had barely spoken this word before Mew was coated with the light of teleportation. Before disappearing completely from view, the pokemon grinned in a childish manner and whispered. "You remember…"

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: So, how's that for a chapter? Well, I have about ½ of the next part done. Reviews always help… I really don't even know if people are still reading this series! It shouldn't take as long to post my next part as the last part did *ducks while bricks come flying at her head* Gomen (Sorry)! Sheesh… everyone makes mistakes! Ja ne! (See you later!)


	8. Chapter 7: A Traitor Among the Ranks

*~*~*~*~*

A long overdue continuation…

A Second Chance

Chapter 7: A Traitor Among the Ranks

*~*~*~*~*

"I'm leaving."

"Just a few more tests…"

"Sorry, I've got better things to do." Brock bluntly stated as he picked up his bag and started walking out of the room. "Thanks for your help, but I'm leaving." 

He really hated hospitals. As if the hideous hospital gowns and toxic food weren't bad enough, there was this constant smell of medication in the air and the somber feeling of death only a few inches away. Yeah… so he recovered from some incurable disease. It doesn't mean that he should be forced to be lock up in one little room all his life just so those insensitive doctors can satisfy their inexhaustible curiosity.

Brock smiled as he pushed the glass doors open to the dim sunlight. It felt good to have the sun on his face again… even if it was close to sunset. The one thing that he regretted was not seeing any of his friends around. Just how long was he out? As Brock started contemplating this, another question entered his head: Where was he going? Without having a clue as to the Rebel's whereabouts, just where should he head?

"Maybe Professor Oak knows…" Brock wondered as he walked over to a nearby payphone. After digging around in his pocket, he thanked God for remembering his silly habit of collecting loose change and stuffing it into his right jacket pocket. Inserting numerous small coins into the phone, Brock then dialed the number to the Oak laboratories, which he was incredibly glad he remembered. "Great no answer."

Pushing the release button, Brock's coins tumbled back into his hand. Who should he call? Who does he know around the area? The only people he knows around here is… Brock's face suddenly turned into a surprised, hormone-driven expression that we are all so closely familiar with. Gathering the pile of metal coin into his pocket, Brock took off in the direction of Cerulean Gym.

*~*~*~*~*

"She was right."

"Pika."

"No, I'm telling you, Lass was right."

"(Ash will be found.)"

"Yeah… like in a body bag." Misty grunted angrily. An exploration of the entire city yielded absolutely zero… nada… zip. The search of the Serpent building, after the police left; was a total waste of time. Everything, from hotels to stores, led to more dead ends. There was no way Ash could still be in the Saffron area.

Pikachu shook its head in frustration. Misty can't lose hope now! Ash felt so close…"(I have this strong feeling that he's alive… and nearby. I swear it.)"

"That's what you said three hours ago!" Misty screamed. She slammed her pack to the ground and gazed up at the starry sky. It was already evening… 7:00 pm. Pikachu's "feeling" had led them into the middle of a forest… in other words, in the middle of nowhere. Cooling down a bit, Misty sighed. "Well, it's dark and we are already lost… might as well set up camp here."

"(But, he's here!)" Pikachu frantically whimpered. By now, Misty wasn't listening… or even cared for that reason. Well, Pikachu had been saying that every now and then… ok nonstop for the past three hours. It's just… something… someone… was telling him that Ash was extremely close by.

Misty rolled out her sleeping bag and gazed at Pikachu. "Pikachu, I'm going to go get some firewood. Can you watch over the camp?"

"(But, I don't want you going out alone…)" Pikachu whispered. He always was the worried type.

Misty smiled and patted her belt. "Don't worry, I've got my pokemon with me. And, Haunter can keep you companion." Misty then dug the pokeball out of her pack and pressed the release button. The ghost tumbled out of the orb, barely visible against the black shadows. "You and Haunter stay right here until I come back, ok?" After two encouraging nods, Misty left the area.

"Damp… damp… damp… is there any dry wood around here?" Misty groaned as she continuously observed soggy wood on the ground… probably the worst type of firewood there ever could be. All the trees in the area were not only impossibly tall; their branches were as well. Holding the two only sticks of dry wood in the area, Misty trotted further away from camp. Her walk soon ended when she reached the sandy shores of a beach huddled beside the ocean. "We must be really far from Saffron."

With surprise, Misty turned to her left and discovered… a city? "It must be Vermillion City. I guess camping out would be useless if we're this close to a city."

Just as she was about to leave the region, the ground started to quiver. At first, Misty thought it was an earthquake, until she realized how weak the tremors were near her left and how violent they were on her right. It was as if something was digging just beneath the soil. Before Misty could question this phenomenon any longer, mounds of soil began to sprout from the ground as a dark creature peeked its body from above the dirt. "It couldn't be…"

"Dugtrio!" The massive three-headed Dugtrio exclaimed.

Misty blinked her eyes in amazement. "But, Dugtrio don't live near beaches… only in tunnels…" She continued to direct her gaze on the creature. The Dugtrio not only appeared healthy but it was at a high level… too high. Strangest of all, the pokemon seemed to recognize her… "You look exactly like… but that's impossible… They told me that all of Ash's pokemon died except for Pikachu and Haunter!"

"(Nope… Dugtrio survived too! Must find Ash… where is he?)" The creature chanted anxiously.

Misty couldn't take her eyes off the pokemon. Although she didn't understand one word it said, she couldn't get over the fact that Dugtrio seemed to know her. "You are Ash's Dugtrio, aren't you?" Dugtrio's cheerful grunts answered that question. "But how… how did you survive?"

Dugtrio shrugged two of its heads. "(Wish I knew.)"

*~*~*~*~*

"You what!" Tammy cried in a raspy voice. Her breath came in short painful gasps as she gritted her teeth into the fleshy part of her lip. Her olive-green eyes were clouded with a layer of blue flame. She slammed the receiver of the phone into the tabletop in order to release her irritation.

"What happened?" Jessie questioned curiously with a disguised trace of concern.

Tammy slowly nibbled on her index finger, as if trying to come to a decision. Finally, she shook her head and whispered in barely audible voice. "Nothing."

"You sure?" Jessie called with a rise of distrust flaring within her vocal cords.

Tammy turned her head towards her companion with a deadly serious look on her face. "Absolutamente."

"Huh?" Jessie murmured as she tilted her head to the side.

Tammy sighed in annoyance. "It's Spanish for absolutely, you baka!" Before Jessie had a chance to question, Tammy shouted. "It means idiot in Japanese, you uneducated fiend! Now get out of here, gaki, before I have to throw you out!"

Jessie placidly walked to the door and opened the door. Before leaving she crossly spoke. "Stop yelling at me in other languages! And what the heck does gaki mean?"

"Brat! Now leave!" Tammy furiously ordered as the door banged shut in response. She then turned back to the phone, which hadn't been hung up properly. Picking up the receiver, she growled. "How could you give yourself away like that, Joe?"

"Oh, would you calláte already!" Joe cried into the phone.

"I will not shut up… and when did you learn Spanish?" Tammy half-yelled, half-questioned.

A sly mysterious grin materialized on Joe's lips as he spoke. "There are many things you don't know about me." The grin slowly shimmered away as Joe sighed. "And, besides, it's not like I planned for the Professor to find out this way."

"Or have one of the Rebels walk in and see you tie up Pro. Oak!" Tammy snarled in disgust.

Joe nervously twitched his fingers. "Well, Giselle is knocked out now, so she won't be much of a problem."

"What if one of her team mate discovers that she's missing?" Tammy bitterly reminded him.

"Oh yeah…" Joe's voice trailed off. "Then, what am I supposed to do with them? I can't reach the Master and all of the bases have been destroyed except for the one at Serpent Island."

Tammy scratched her head in thought before answering. "You're going to have to bring them here, but be careful. Jessie is here and I have reason to believe that she shouldn't be trusted."

"Whatever you say." Joe mumbled. "The other Rebels, though, think that I'm trustworthy. Should I try to find their positions and lure them over there?"

Tammy, finally over her rage spell, slowly nodded. "Yes. Milk as much information out of the girl and find out where they are. Then, bring the whole group over to the island and let the Master deal with them. But, whatever you do, don't let anyone else know your Serpent identity. Got it?"

"One question." Joe slowly spoke as he turned his gaze over to the lifeless bodies of the Professor and Giselle. "What if the girl refuses to tell the whereabouts of her friends?"

The sides of Tammy's lips gradually tweaked upwards. "You should already know the answer to that question." A click was heard before the line went dead.

*~*~*~*~*

Run.

It wasn't a request… It was a command…

Blurring green mixed with astonished cries…

Rough tree barks… Smooth leaves…

Earth slammed against his feet…

Racing heartbeat… short gasps…

Had to keep running…

Had to keep…

Running… always was his favorite activity. Feeling as free as a bird… Getting away from it all… But this time was different…

He was running to return to it all… For reasons that defied even himself… He just had to get there… Someone… something… needed him…

He stopped… someone needed him now…

The sound he had previously heard amplified in volume. It was as if someone was calling his name… but it wasn't a human voice…

"(Ash)"

It was a pokemon voice… one that he recognized very well…

He looked around him… the voice was so close yet so far away…

"(Ash)"

Ash looked up to the sky. His eyes made out the image of a small bird in the sky. Thinking that it was just another Spearow, Ash was about to continue his run until he heard the flying creature speak his name for yet a third time. This bird knew him…

As it pokemon approached, Ash blinked in surprise. It wasn't a bird… it was a bat… his bat… "Zubat?"

Zubat screeched in glee as it made a nose-dive to the ground and straight to Ash's side. Zubat happily circled his trainer while Ash gazed, dumbfounded, at the pokemon. "But… you died… didn't you?"

"(I did… but I'm alive now.)" Zubat echoed as it landed on Ash's outstretched arm.

He continued to stare at the pokemon as if he were looking at a ghost. "This is impossible!"

Zubat simply shrugged its wings. "(Well, it happened. So, where are the others?)"

"Others? You mean my other pokemon are alive too?" Ash gasped. Didn't Misty say that his clone and his pokemon died that night? "How did you survive?"

"(Not sure… all I remember is blood seeping from my wings and then waking up in the middle of the forest with the others.)" Zubat quickly answered.

"Great… just great." Ash whispered not really listening to what Zubat was saying. His eyes gazed curiously at a bright light in the distance. Being the only source of light in the area, Ash ignored his talking bat and strolled forward, hoping to get a closer look. Zubat, wordlessly, flew above him until they reached a slight clearing within the darkened forest. "Hmm… must be Vermillion City. Better get going unless we want to spend the night out here."

"(Wait…)" Zubat spoke in a hushed voice as it rouse its body higher into the air. Through its vampire-like teeth, the bat shrieked a high-pitched cry into the murky sky. Invisible rays of sound bounced back to the little creature giving it an accurate picture of the region. "(There's someone over there… along with some pokemon… I think.)"

"But, who would be around here?" Ash turned his eyes towards the area. Though the dark masked just about everything in his vision, he still felt a trivial sensation that Zubat was right. "We better check it out, just to be safe."

*~*~*~*~*

"Come on… snap out of it already." Gary commanded as he violently shook the sleepy form of James. Not attaining a response, Gary angrily kicked his head. "If you don't get up, I'm going to have to kick you where it really hurts!"

That brought James from his drowsy state. His body bolted upright as he blinked at the sight of the luminous sunlight. After getting his bearings, James gazed up at Gary. "Never make those kind of threats when a guy is sleeping, got it?"

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Gary smirked deviously as he waited for James to get to his feet. "We both fell asleep watching Win and Julie after they entered that hotel. Come on, let's head over to the hospital."

"Tell me, what's with Brock's amazing recovery?" James questioned as the duo started walking towards the hospital.

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "If specially-trained doctors couldn't answer that question, what makes you think that I can?"

James curtly grinned. "Someone has to know why."

"I'm guessing that if you don't know anything then neither do the Rockets." Gary contemplated aloud.

"The Rockets have in the dark about Stellar from the beginning. A normal citizen probably knows more about the matter then the Rockets do." James growled silently.

"James, I have a question for you. We both saw the Serpents go inside the hospital yesterday and come out empty-handed. Instead of further questioning the hospital staff, how about we check out the city and see if Brock managed to escape somewhere else." Gary casually mumbled aloud.

James hesitated for a moment, trying to think of any counterarguments for his train of thought. "What if they are purposely came out of the hospital empty-handed in order to confuse us."

Gary's eyes darkened for a moment in thought. "No one knows we're here."

James shoulders drooped for a moment. No one knows that he is here, but what about Gary? Lass and her thugs have certain 'ways' of getting information out of people. But still… those agents didn't look that intelligent… could Gary be right? "I wouldn't be so sure about that. The Serpents are always ahead of the game."

Gary shook his head. "What are you saying? That someone followed me? That someone followed you?"

James slowly shook his head. "That's not her style. She likes to know everything that's happening… and I do mean everything."

"But the only way you can know everything is if…" Gary's voice trailed off into nothingness as amber eyes determinately locked with jade ones. "A spy?"

"She prefers the term 'trustworthy moles'." James monotonously remarked. "They are very good actors… too good at times. There is absolutely no way to spot them. As they say, trust no one."

"Then why should I trust you?" Gary demanded, clearly agitated by the very thought.

James slyly shook his head. "I guess you can't. But if you want your friend back, you're going to have to. I have a pretty good idea where he'd head."

"And where would that be?" Gary questioned as he nervously fidgeted his fingers.

Glancing around, James slowly leaned in and whispered in his ears. "Think pretty girls and water pokemon…"

A blank look entered his face until the light of understanding flowed into his very being. He knew exactly where Brock was.

*~*~*~*~*

"(Did you just hear that?)" Pikachu gnawed his rat-like teeth together in alarm.

Misty curiously stared down at rodent. "Hear what?"

Haunter paused for a moment before whispering. "(A bat.)"

Pikachu, ignoring Misty's dumbfounded look, determinately locked eyes with Haunter. "(You aren't suggesting that was Zubat… are you?)"

"(It certainly isn't impossible.)" Haunter merely mumbled as his eyes settled on the form of Dugtrio digging a shaky path just above the surface. His years of experience allowed the pokemon to follow the group without slowing them down in the least bit.

Misty quietly listened to the conversation, only able to understand one side. She tightened her grip on her tiny bag as she continued walking towards Vermillion City. The night completely enveloped the region though the slivery rays of a crescent moon rained down on the party. Lush pines loomed on all sides while the faint smell of the salty sea drifted through the humid air. For nearly the third time, Misty snapped her head back and narrowed her eyes. Was it just her imagination or was there something out there… watching… following her?

"And what might a young woman like yourself be doing out here all alone?"

"Huh?" Misty called and quickly turned around. Behind her, a tall man stood quietly with a sly yet friendly smile on his lips. A small dark bat floated on top of his head like a swirling halo. "It couldn't be… Ash?"

*~*~*~*~*

"Let's see… 12234… 12246…ah! Here it is! 12259!" Joe exclaimed proudly as he slipped the piece of paper back into his right pocket. He smiled happily as he gloated to himself over his recent accomplishments. Sure, he might have been friends with Giselle years before, but a few methods of torture ensured her immediate cooperation. That was one nice thing about the Serpents, they always had dozens of ways to milk information out of hostages. After learning that Misty was in Saffron on a wild chase for Ash, Joe decided to take on the rest of the gang in Cerulean. The gym seemed unusually quiet for the time-being. After a few attempts at knocking on the door, he decided to let himself in the old-fashion way, by turning the doorknob. It squeaked loudly, but he didn't care. Frankly, all he wanted was to get this mission over with as soon as possible.

The lack of noise combined with the absence of all life in the room created a strange atmosphere around the pool and the rest of the room. "Is anybody here?" Joe screamed to the desolate walls with no reply. The sound bounced around the room for a few minutes but what felt like a few hours. Thinking that this trip was a waste, Joe scampered back to the door.

"Who's there?" A shaky feminine voice whispered out of the darkness.

Joe once again searched the room but found no trace of the owner of the voice. "My name is Joe and I'm looking for a few friends of mine."

A few uneasy mummers were heard in the background before a brilliant light cascaded down on Joe. His vision was impaired for a few moments before it was replaced with a soft glowing light around the room. From that light emerged a group of 6 people, 3 guys and 3 girls, with a swarm of pokemon by their side. Joe smiled, recognizing 2 of the males' faces, for they were his intended victims. "Is he trustworthy?" One of the females questioned uneasily.

The others observed him quietly, trying to find some sort of incriminating evidence on him. "What is the nature of your visit?" One of the men asked, focusing an untrusting stare directly at Joe.

"I recently contacted Misty and learned that she has found Ash and that we are to change the meeting point." Joe simply stated.

"And why must we do that?" Gary questioned taking a step closer.

Joe sighed and quickly formulated an answer. "Giselle and Professor Oak have been captured by the Serpents. After relating this information to Misty, she told me to find Gary and perhaps Brock and change the meeting place."

The tension around the room diminished and the group all edged closer. Brock nodded back at the group. "He's trustworthy." He then turned to face Joe again. "Then, where must we meet?"

Joe smiled craftily. "At Serpent Island."

*~*~*~*~*

"Here are the prisoners you requested." A buff man spoke as he roughly pushed two cross people in front of him.

"Thank you. Please put them in the dungeon." Tammy simply requested, as the prisoners were lead away at gunpoint.

Jessie watched the prisoner retreat in pure surprise. She had not only recognized them, but knew that they were part of the Rebels. "And what was that all about?"

Tammy shrugged. "Just a hostage delivery. You should know that; you've seen it hundreds of times before."

Jessie icily replied. "But never without the Master's orders."

"Look Jessie," Tammy growled. "My job is to run this island, not your job. So, back off." Tammy walked off with an angry trot.

"I have to get them out of here." Jessie thought to herself as she stared at the hallway where she last saw them. Quiet as a field mouse, Jessie slipped down the hallway, avoiding the detection of dozens of guards, and over to the dungeons. Her search was a long and tedious one. Eventually, it led her to an empty row of cells where Jessie could hear someone calling for help. After a few dead end searches, she finally reached the cell of two people, an old weary man and a young desperate woman.

"Who are you?" Giselle whispered fearfully as she saw a figure approach.

"Shush!" Jessie ordered as she dug into her pockets and produced a lock pick. "Don't make a sound." The two-trapped prisoners seemed to understand the situation and acted accordingly. They kept quiet while Jessie fumbled on the lock and even when she opened the rusty metal door. "All right, follow me, but keep quiet."

"Well, well, well." A sinister whisper echoed through the cell. "What do we have here?"

"No." Giselle simply moaned as she recognized the figure standing before them.

Jessie gazed in curious surprise at Giselle sudden mood change. Why would Tammy scare her that much? Quickly turning around, Jessie barked in her bravest voice. "All right, Tammy, what's your problem?"

"The name's not Tammy." The figure simply stated as she walked into view as Jessie's face turned pale white with fear. "It's Lass."

*~*~*~*~*

"Ash, what are you doing? Vermillion city is this way." Misty pointed towards the dim lights on the horizon.

"But the ocean is this way." Ash slyly replied and started walking on the opposite path.

Misty gazed at him with frustration. After overcoming her surprise of seeing Ash again, they had been walking along in silence. Though she continually asked questions about his whereabouts within the last few days, he answered only a few of them with curt responses. She knew that he was ignoring her but as to why… she didn't have a clue. "And what's so special about the ocean?"

"You'll see when we get there." Ash turned and started walking down the path. Misty sighed and followed his lead, hoping that he had a good reason at least. Pikachu scampered to his side, just as confused as Misty was. The other pokemon had been placed back into their pokeballs. This includedDewgong and Feraligatr." Ash quietly ordered.

"But… why?" Misty questioned as she fingered the two pokeballs on her belt.

"We have to go to Serpent Island. Our friends are trapped on the island." Ash stated more to himself and turned his head back to Misty. "Release them now."

Misty pouted at this abrupt order. It was not in her blood to follow such stern orders. However, something told her that she should let this battle slip. It wasn't the time to argue. "Go Dewgong and Feraligatr!"

The seal-like pokemon and the rough alligator-like pokemon emerged on the sandy beach. They both gazed at their master curiously, awaiting their orders. Misty obediently sat atop Dewgong while Ash seated himself upon Feraligatr. This time, though, the creature submissively allowed him to do so without trouble. It was like both creatures knew that something big was going to happen.

"Tell them to head 5 degrees northwest. That should lead us to the island." Ash commanded, after briefly gazing at a map.

Misty nodded. "Do as he says." The pokemon splashed forward towards the unknown island.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, how far is it to this island?" Gary yelled against the screeching high velocity winds. 

Brock and James glanced back at Joe who was staring at a map. "10 more miles."

Fearow squeaked in dissatisfaction. It had been carrying these four heavy bodies from Cerulean and it was far beyond tired. It had already been flying for an hour or two… maybe three, but who's counting? Though may consider the bird as one of the fastest flyers of the pokemon world, even it had trouble making a land trip and ocean trip at top speed with a heavy cargo. Gary calmly petted his creature on the head. "Just a few more miles. Then you'll get the long rest that you deserve." The pokemon wasn't too assured by such a statement; it had already heard that 5 times before. But what other choice did it have?

"Joe, I have a question for you." James quietly whispered.

Joe looked up from his map. "Yes James."

"How's life with the Serpents?" James sneakily questioned.

Joe bolted up, gazing at James' green eyes curiously. His years of training wiped any sign of fear upon his features. "What are you trying to imply?"

James, though he was in an uncomfortable position, continued to stare at Joe trying to observe any sign of lying. "There's a mole around."

"You think that it's me?" Joe asked in mock surprise.

James stared long and hard at him before he responded. "I'm still trying to decide."

"Turn around James. If there's a traitor here, he's in front of you." Joe viciously remarked.

"Did you say something?" Brock asked, obviously not hearing any of the conversation.

James seated himself properly on the bird and shook his head. "Nothing important."

"Hey guys… you're not going to believe this." Gary shouted from his position.

The other three passengers gazed ahead, startled at the sight in front of their eyes. There, blue and pink balls of light blasted at regular intervals slightly above a small land mass. "What are those… fireworks?"

"Look again. It's some sort of fight." Gary commanded.

Indeed, he was right. As Fearow neared the scene, it was evident that the pink and blue lights were directed at each other. The two individuals causing the racket floated in the air, both containing cat-like features and a long white tail. Psychic blasts of power slammed against each another, blinding the group, even though they were a few miles away from the island. Only when the group was less than a mile from the island did Joe gasp in shock. "It's Mew and Mewtwo…"

*~*~*~*~*

"Wake up." Ash ordered quietly as he shook Misty's still form.

"Five more minutes…" Misty murmured in her sleep, obviously enjoying her dream.

"Come on, Misty. We don't have the time… please wake up." Ash called.

Misty slowly shifted her body before opening her eyes. To her surprise, she was lying down on a grassy beach sitting directly beside the ocean with the bright sunshine tumbling atop her face. On her left were two pokeball, obviously containing Dewgong and Feraligatr. On her right, Ash was gazing up at something in the sky. Curious, Misty sat up and placed her eyes on the scene. It seemed like two cat-pokemon… two strangely familiar creatures… were fighting with powerful psychic blasts. "What the heck?"

Ash pulled his eyes off the scene and turned to Misty. "Run."

She didn't need to be told twice. Misty grabbed her pokeballs and hurried to her feet. Grabbing Ash's hand, the pair raced off the beach and towards some cover, which was a building atop a hill. Just as they dove behind the building, a large pink bubble of energy banged against the beach, which they were previously on, into obliteration. Both of them both tried to catch their breath when Misty huffed. "What's going around here?"

Ash sternly glared at her before responding. "Not so loud." Turning back to the scene, he whispered. "It seems that we've stumbled right into a fight between Mew and Mewtwo."

Misty curiously gazed at Ash. "Yeah and pink elephants fly at midnight."

His lips upturned slightly. "You don't believe me? Look for yourself."

Misty shoved her way forward and watched the fight. It was clear that both creatures were highly powerful and that neither of them was winning. Whenever one got the advantage over the other, they would lose it just as quickly as they had it. The brilliance of the attacks clouded the view of the actually attackers from her vantage point. However, that soon changed when one of the white cat creatures made a low dive to the ocean. It was just low enough and close enough for Misty to make out the white tail and feline body. Turning back to Ash, her face turned ghastly white. "And I thought that they only existed in fairy tales."

"I guess you don't remember then." Ash quietly whispered.

"What did you say?" Misty questioned.

Ash shook his head. "Nothing. Here, let's try to get in the building. Now… what would be the best way to get in?"

"We could follow them." Misty mumbled as she noticed 4 people get off a large bird.

*~*~*~*~*

"Let's find some cover!" Brock shouted as he raced towards a small group of trees. James, Gary and Joe soon followed. When they reached their destination, the group rested for a moment, catching their breaths. "Ok, what's the plan?"

"We've got to get inside the building." Joe panted as he pointed up to the Serpent's building. "Come on!"

Before the others had a chance to comment, Joe took off at full speed towards the building and to the entrance. As he waited for oxygen to fill his lungs, Joe blinked in confusion. "Ash? Misty? What are you doing here?"

"Long story. Where are the others?" Ash demanded until he saw the three running towards them. "Guess that answers my question."

"Ash? Misty?" The three exclaimed in unison as they tumbled beside the building's doorway.

"No time to explain." Misty quickly responded as she kept a cautious eye on the fight above. "We've got to get in. They have our friends trapped inside."

"What!" Joe cried, surprised not by the statement but at the information leak. He suspiciously glared at both Misty and Ash. "And how would you know that?"

Lacking an answer, Misty looked towards Ash, who seemed to formulating his thoughts. Rather than go into a deep explanation of Mew's encounter, Ash simply growled. "I have my sources."

Before they could question him further, a pink blast struck the earth barely a ½ mile away. Joe quickly glanced at the keyboard security lock and typed in the information while the group was distracted. The door eerily opened on its own, startling the Rebels immensely. "Are we expected?" James wily remarked.

Ash, taking his role as leader in the group, gave a slight nod. "We don't want to disappoint our audience, now, do we?" With that, he marched inside, with the group on his tail. Darkness blinded their vision as the 6 of them were forced to feel along the walls. "All right, everyone, follow my voice."

Everyone silently agreed and listened to Ash's rather soft commands through the blackness… everyone, that is, except for one. The devious traitor of the group smiled at his success. All he had to do was lead them towards the dungeon where the guards were sure to pick up on Ash's dry voice. All he had to do was slip away… and his mission would be complete. There was only one thorn in his perfect plan… and it went by the name of James. He was too smart for his own good. Joe reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He stared at it and was barely able to make out a thin spike that closely resembled a doctor's needle. Joe smiled slowly knowing that it was a good idea to grab a few poison spikes from that weakened Tentacruel. Though the dose in one needle was hardly enough to seriously injury pokemon, he learned, through experience, that the results were far different in humans… far different.

"Ah!!!!!" James let out a frantic scream as something was jabbed into his back.

"What's wrong?" Misty asked, somewhat frightened by the sudden outburst.

"Pikachu, soft flash." Ash whispered to his pokemon, who lit up accordingly, but not to its full extent. Praying that no one was around, Ash gazed questioningly at James. "Screaming now won't get you ice cream, James, only death."

"Something… is in… in my… back." By feeling around his back, James was painfully able to extract the foreign object. The needle, now covered with a fresh layer of rich blood, appeared in his hands. No sooner did he do this than his eyes glazed over and his legs collapsed under him. Joe, expecting this, caught him before his head banged against the cement floor.

"He's… he's been poisoned." Brock whispered, remembering his own similar experience quite vividly.

Gary knelled down and touched his forehead. "He's burning up… Looks like he has a fever."

"He's unconscious." Joe spoke with feigning sympathy in his voice. "His heartbeat is unusually fast. But, at least he's still breathing…"

Gary slowly rose from his position and gazed intently behind the group, trying to see if there were any invisible traps. "The Serpents…They must be around here somewhere."

Helping out Joe, Brock carefully placed the still body on the damp floor. "What are we going to do?"

Ash silently observed the scene before speaking. "This is too dangerous. We should get out of here."

For once, Misty shook her head in agreement. "If someone knows we're here, they're going to put up more traps like this."

Joe shook his head. "No. You said it yourself; we have no time. I'll stay here and watch over him. Everyone else should continue on."

Moans of protest erupted from the clan. When Joe continued to firmly defend his suggestion, the group unwilling consented. "You're a brave man Joe." Ash commented slowly. "There are not many honest, valiant people in this world. Never forget that."

"Stay safe." "Be careful." "Thank you." Were heard mumbled around the group as they followed Ash down the tunnel.

Joe glanced down at the dying man, feeling the pangs of guilt flow through his body. Trying to shake off such absurd emotions, he pulled out a pokeball. "Abra, come on out." The yellow, brown pokemon tumbled out of the ball. Closing its eyes to the black, the creature awaited for its orders.

Joe turned back to James and pulled out two thick strands of rope. While slowly tying it around James' ankles, a rebel tear reached the very corner of his eyes. He forced it to stay in place when he started working on his wrists. But no matter how hard he fought… Ash's words repeated themselves within his head. After finishing his task, Joe took one last look at his victim's before unwilling letting the salty water droplet slip from his moist eyes and into the air. The water rapidly spun through the air and landed on James' shirt where it disappeared from the shadows.

Abra unconsciously felt his master's pain and proceeded to crawl next to him. "(It doesn't have to be like this…)"

"Abra… tele… teleport… to… to…the…" Joe hesitated. Lowering his head to the ground, he whispered. "To the Main Control Room." The three bodies disappeared from sight.

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Ok, a shorter part, but it's out. There should be about 1… maybe 2 more parts. However, I won't even think about writing until May 16… the end of all my AP tests. Terribly sorry, but I can't devote any more time to this story until that date. Thank you all for being so patient and for still sending me reviews. I probably wouldn't have finished this story at all if I didn't know that there were people that really cared for it that much. Arigatou to everyone!


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